Yes.

Ya there are some fun tables, also try Future pinball which is alot easier to setup.

Visual pinball isn't that hard to setup once you wrap your head around it. Sometimes you need to reset the tables when you first start them. Figure out what ALL your F function keys do...etcetc

That guy does a pretty good job of explaining it. The hardest thing is to match up your directories to make sure the emulator is looking for the tables and roms in the right area.

It was really fun but I ended up deleting it due to the amount of malware that was attached to it. It slowed my computer down.

Yes, not real pinball, but fun. Can't beat free.

You'd be better off with the Williams collections on your Xbox360 or PS3. I tried it once and also ended up deleting it. I always use a junk/don't care about PC when loading unknown software and programs. I currently have 11 Dell P4's I'm looking for charity homes for all loaded up and ready to go if anyone in my area knows of a needy family.

There shouldn't be any malware involved with Visual Pinball, it's a totally legit program. I got it on my Mame cab...works like a charm...some tables better than others...

You really gotta watch your sources anymore for stuff downloaded. It's not like it was even a couple years ago. I've been into computers since Fred Flintstone's rock one. It's very hard for people who have not been around to discern what is safe anymore even on newsgroups and FTP's.

I do like MAME and have a couple thousand ROM's for it. I put it on all my PC's for donation. I didn't delete Visual Pinball for malware or viruses .. it just didn't interest me that much after messing around with it.

I don't mind playing a virtual game of Pinball now and then, especially when deciding if I want to buy a particular Pin, but I am still not convinced that the physics are as good as it needs to be to produce a more realistic play. Don't get me wrong, VP has come a long way, now with the options of nudging, bumping, coil feedback and better looking tables, we are getting the best that this technology can give us today.

One day perhaps, VP will get to be so realistic that we may sell all but the most cherished Pins we own. "Not today"

Thoughts / ideas?

Virtual does not come close to the real thing.

Would like it as an extra on JJP pins though.

While it's not the same as the real thing, Visual Pinball has allowed me to play on tables
that I've never played before, so YES it's a great thing.

Future Pinball is easier to install and no need for emulators or roms. Just have to install
it, and load up tables.

I like em' both, Visual & Future pinball. For me they help me get over the funk and boredom
of only owning 1 pin.

Fun ok, not the same experience, but it gives you a decent idea of how some pinballs play. I guess the latest version makes Pinball machines look more realistic. google JP Salas and it will take you to a very nice website.

I absolutely recommend VP. It brought my pinball addiction back to life and steered me in the direction of getting my first real pin. I have a MAME arcade game which has buttons setup on the sides (flippers) and one in the front (shooter). It really emulates pinball, but you can't beat the real deal IMO.

I agree with tk375...JP Salas makes some the best VP tables!

Johnny

You only need to install the one that is referenced inside the script.

That would be interesting!

There are some distros out there that make it easier to install than others. Getting all the necessary components for a table can be tricky. Once you have all the pieces together, it will only give you a good idea of game play...but certainly isn't going to replace a real pin. As others stated here, I use it to try out tables that I can't play locally.

A Hyperpin cabinet with 3 Monitors (Playfield, BackGlass & DMD) makes for a very lifelike simulation. Many people add tilt sensor, flashers, solenoids for force feedback, even LED animations inside the cabinet side art :drooling:
I like to use F14 as the example of perfect gameplay physics - They are spot on. The reality is that even with the perfection of my example, it will not substitue the "real deal". The real F-14 has depth of the playfield and ramps that cannot be seen on a flattened view. It still feels like pinball, sounds like pinball, and is a hell of alot of fun - just like pinball.
Any single real pin VS a single simulated table will always result in the win going to the real pin; but for me, the variety of the games on a Hyperpin Cabinet outweights the single real pin.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

To me this visual pinball business represents everything that is bad with the 21st century. Thats right, it is worse then global corporate opression, wars and recession.

It is the " simulacra " .. the simulated replacing the "real"

Tactility is dissapearing from our world - i hate those bloody e book kindle things too.

The reason i love pinball, and love it over even old school arcade video games, is that is it "real" .. that ball is really bouncing about the playfield, the flipper is really hitting that ball.

To replace all that beauty with sleek HD screens simulating pinball .. well it makes me want to cry, and thats a confession for y'all

Installed VP the other day. I was hugely disappointed.
I played Pinball dreams on my 7 MHz Amiga computer back in 91, it worked so much better than VP. Pinball Dreams was actually fun to play.
Read a book instead.

VPForums has the latest releases of Visual Pinball. I believe they even have it as a one-step MSI installer. I wondered where captainadam got his copy where there was malware attached...

There are at least three people I know that say they play VP because there is no actual pinball where they are. In the USA, even.

This was why I was able to challenge players (and win) on Big Bang Bar, I already knew what to shoot for.

I agree, though, it doesn't replace pinball at all. However, it's a great way to see how the actual game plays.

The ball physics need work, though. Hard to simulate a spinning pinball bouncing off a flipper.

However, this year the game went Open Source, which means that some of us programmers can have a whack at it and see what we can do.

Plus, there are some wizard VP designers out there who have developed their own tables, right down to the ROMs. I for one would LOVE to see Eala Dubh Sidhe's Wallace And Gromit table done as an actual game!

I am confused...aren't all Pins visual? I don't really know how you would play them otherwise.

Well, with an extra monitor on hand and hyperpin installed, full screen visual pinball is a real blast! Best way to play titles like MM and TOTAN without having to dish out 10 grand or so.