Having trouble

[dwd58]

Having trouble...dowloaded the files but cant open up the tables. It says adobe reader cant open file. I can open the instructions to each game fine, but not the table. Visual pinball seems to have loaded as I have a screen with all the icons, but no tables. I am not that computer savy., just an old school pin baller that wants to play the bingo machines.

[sleepy]

First off, with the Mouse, Right-Click on either the Shortcut to Visual Pinball or Right-Click on the (usually) VPinballxxx.exe and choose Run as Administrator. You will need to do this if your version of Windows is Vista or Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Which table has the Adobe Reader file?

Did you download the tables from another website?

I don't know that any table uses Adobe Reader, though maybe one of the table authors got clever by adding the Reader to his script. The authors of the tables are strictly volunteer hobbyists, so that might have happened.

Is the Reader file a separate file from the table file (I have seen separate .PDF Reader instruction files), or do you see the Adobe Reader error message in Visual Pinball when clicking the Play button?

The bingo tables are usually the easiest VP table to load up. They are usually just a matter of download and unzip the xNameofTablex.VPT file to the Visual Pinball\Tables folder, then open Visual Pinball.
At the top of VP click File > Open, then navigate to the Table folder (displayed by Default) and choose the table by name. When it opens, then click the Play button in the Visual Pinball editor.

And please, let us know how it's going. We'll get it working.

[sleepy]

I checked your profile and I think I've got it. I'm guessing that you want Golden Gate.

Is this the error that you see when trying to open the instruction file?



This is because the file is actually a .DOC file, not an Adobe .PDF file.
You can read .doc files in Windows Wordpad, usually click the Start button > choose All Programs > Accessories > Wordpad. When Wordpad opens, click File on the Wordpad top bar > choose Open and go to where the .doc file is unzipped.

But it isn't an instruction file, only a thank you file from the author...

And if you have Visual Pinball version 9xxx, then you will need Visual Pinball version 8.1 to play Golden Gate and most of the Bingo games. The VP program was updated to version 9x and now the older Tables won't run correctly. Not unless they are written for VP 9xx.

You can get VPinball8.1 here:

http://www.pinballnirvana.com/UpDown...-lid-1207.html

Go to the Windows Start button > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and uninstall Visual Pinball.

Then, download the Visual Pinball installer from the link and run it to install VPinball 8.1.

Unzip the GoldenGate.vpt file, or Move the GoldenGate.vpt file that you have, to the Tables folder. If the file is already in the current Tables folder, then it will still be there after uninstalling VP9xx.
In that case, open the VP8.1 after installing it. Vista and Windows 7 or 8 users will still need to Right-Click either the VPinball.exe or the Shortcut and set it to Run as Administrator.

Click File > Open > choose GoldenGate.vpt.

Click Play

For instructions on this version of Golden Gate, press the r key.
Press the key again to close the instruction page pop-up.

Press the s key to start the game.

Press the (lower case) L key to serve the ball to the Plunger.

Press the ENTER/RETURN key to launch the ball.

The instruction pop-up is useful for finding the Nudge keys, But Don't TILT!

And again, let us know if it works or doesn't. We'll get it working.

[dwd58]

Ok, I deleted the old version, and uploaded the vpinball 8.1 from the link you provided. Every time I go to upload a table, I get the version with the words, which I can open just fine, then the next attactchment is uploaded in adobe reader and I get the message you printed above (adobe reader could not open file because it wazs sent as email attatchement. I just cant get to any of the tables for some reason. Help!

[sleepy]

Is this the page that you are downloading Golden Gate from?

http://www.pinballnirvana.com/modules.php

The link for Golden Gate has two versions. The first version is the newer version with the .DOC file that can only be opened with Windows Wordpad. Don't use Adobe Reader for opening a .DOC file. It won't work, and you will get the error message that I posted above.

The second version is the original version which the newer version is based on. It has a simple Notepad text file to read.

After it downloads, then open the Golden Gate.ZIP file. Click on the goldengate.vpt file to turn it Blue (this is known as highlighting the file to choose it) and then Copy the file to the Visual Pinball\Tables folder.

Then open the Visual Pinball program. At the top click File > Open and choose Golden Gate from the Tables folder where you copied the goldengate.vpt file to.

If you download the newer version, Open Visual Pinball, load the table, click the Play button and when the table is in view Press the r key for instructions. Press the r key again to close the instruction window.

That "email attachment" message is just Adobe Reader's general error message, the one that I posted. That message is from the Adobe Reader when the Adobe Reader cannot make sense of the Windows Wordpad About_Golden_Gate.DOC file.

Trust me. That attachment (.DOC file) can only be opened with Windows Wordpad.

Let us know if it works. I'll think of something.

[sleepy]

After you download the goldengate.zip file, then open it.
Click on the goldengate.vpt file in the .ZIP to highlight it in Blue and copy it to the Visual Pinball\Tables folder:







If you download and unzip the version with the About Golden Gate.DOC file, then load the table in Visual Pinball, click Play, and when you see the table, Press the r key for instructions. Press the r key to close the instructions window.


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To read the .DOC file, Unzip (COPY) the goldengate.DOC file to your My Documents folder, then click the Windows START button > choose All Programs > Accessories > Wordpad.

In Wordpad click File > choose Open and go to the My Documents folder and choose the About Golden Gate.DOC file, but again, it is Only a Thank You message. It contains no game instructions.

[dwd58]

Man, I got one table in the visual pin ball called top gun, I guess it came in there. But I cant find the golden gate. I go to The bingo download section and I download different bingo games, but I cant get them to the table section. I will be home tonight after dark. Maybe you can give me a call and walk me through it over the phone. thanks for all your help. I know it must be frustrating for you to deal with some of us.

[sleepy]

Hey, we're all amateurs here. The persons responsible for Visual Pinball left years ago. The current caretakers are over at www.vpforums.org
vpforums is more about recent pinball recreations.

But darn, the link I posted doesn't work, so let's try this.

Try this link and in the Search Box found at the top of the page, right under the Pinball Nirvana -- Downloads heading, type Golden Gate
That should bring up the page with 2 versions of Golden Gate.

http://www.pinballnirvana.com/UpDownload.html

If you are using Internet Explorer, When you click the download and get the Windows download pop-up, make sure that the "Close when download is completed" checkbox is Unchecked. If there is a check in that box, click on it to remove it.

Then when the download is completed, click the Open File button that appears on the download pop-up window and follow the pictures with the red arrows that I posted above.

I'll check back, but I've been up all night.

[sleepy]

Hey, we're all amateurs here. The persons responsible for Visual Pinball left years ago. The current caretakers are over at www.vpforums.org
vpforums is more about recent pinball recreations.

But darn, the link I posted doesn't work, so let's try this.

Try this link and in the Search Box found at the top of the page, right under the Pinball Nirvana -- Downloads heading, type Golden Gate
That should bring up the page with 2 versions of Golden Gate.

http://www.pinballnirvana.com/UpDownload.html

If you are using Internet Explorer, When you click the download and get the Windows download pop-up, make sure that the "Close when download is completed" checkbox is Unchecked. If there is a check in that box, click on it to remove it.

Then when the download is completed, click the Open File button that appears on the download pop-up window and follow the pictures with the red arrows that I posted above.

I'll check back, but I've been up all night.

[dwd58]

i found the golden gate using the search, but it is not the same Golden Gate bingo machinge by Ballys that I was talikning about, but I tried to download it anyway. After I download, I get lost. I seem to have several tables on my computer, but I havent been able to put them under the tables or open them up. I saw you had been up from your posts. When you get up, post on here and give me a time when you can call. I am just about to go nuts with this. thanks

[sleepy]

I just checked and I haven't found the Bally Golden Gate, so apparently nobody has recreated that game yet, but to be sure, there are other Bally Bingo recreations. I've played them and they are pretty good.

You can also find Bingo games for Visual Pinball at www.irpinball.org

You need to know where the computer is keeping the downloaded NameOfTable.ZIP or NameOfTable.RAR files.

And you will need to know where the Visual Pinball\Tables folder is.

If you know this, then open the folder that contains the downloaded table.zip files. Find the table download that you want. Right-Click on it and from the menu choose Open.

A Right-Click is when you click on a file or folder by pressing the Mouse button on the Right-Side of the Mouse.

Then Right-Click on the NameOfTable.vpt file and choose Copy.

Then find and open the Visual Pinball\Tables folder. Right-Click inside the Tables folder window and choose Paste. A copy of the table.vpt file should then appear in the Tables folder.

Open the Visual Pinball program, choose File > Open. The table that you pasted should be available from the Open menu. Select it with a mouse click and then click
the VP Open button. The table should open in the VP editor. Then click the Play button on the VP left side menu.

This should do the trick.
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For .RAR files You will need to install 7-Zip to unzip them.

You can download the 7-Zip installer from here, but first, Make Note of your system. Is it a 32 bit Windows system, or is it a 64 bit system?
Then download and install the correct version of 7-Zip for your system, but download the 32bit .exe version for Windows 32 bit systems or the 64 bit .msi for installing on Windows 64 bit systems. AND AGAIN, Make sure that you know which system you have, the 32 bit or the 64 bit, so that you install the correct version for your system, elsde the wrong version, same as using the wrong weight of motor oil or the wrong fuel, can screw up the computer:

http://www.7-zip.org/download.html


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To check for the existence of the Tables folder on the system hard drive, Click the Windows START button in the lower left corner of your screen. Then find and Right-Click on My Computer and choose Open. A new window opens.

In this window, Right-Click the C: drive Icon and choose Open.

Find the Program Files folder. Right-Click on it and choose Open.

Find the Visual Pinball folder. Right-Click on it and choose Open.

Look for the Tables folder. If it isn't there, then you need to run the Visual Pinball download to install Visual Pinball. This will create the Tables folder.
If the Tables folder is there, then look at what the words in the small text window are saying is the PATH.

A PATH is the directions to and the address of a file or folder as it exists on the hard drive or storage media, CD-ROM or DVD or Floppy Disk, etc. A PATH is absolutely no different from a street address and the directions to get to that address. On computers we drive to these addresses with our Mouse or our keyboard.

If you find the Tables folder where I suggested it will be, based on the standard Visual Pinball installation paths, the path to the Tables folder will be:

C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\Tables

Okay. We need to unzip the table files and put them in the Visual Pinball\Tables folder.

A quick way to find the path to where the computer is storing the download files is to download another table, but when you click the download link, take a good look at the download message that pops up before the download starts. That message should tell you the PATH to the download folder.

Try this. Right-Click on a table download link and choose either Save Link as... or Save as. A menu should appear that allows you to save the file to the folder that you want the file to be saved in, and there is a very good chance that the window will already be open to where the other table.zip files are. Make a note of the PATH to these files and then go ahead and download the table or Cancel the download.

Then go to that folder, open it, and unzip or Copy/Paste the .vpt file to the Tables folder either from the Copy menu on the left side of the window or by using the mouse Right-Click on the .zip file.

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If the file is a .RAR file, then install the correct version of 7-zip for your system (32 bit Windows .exe or 64 bit Windows .MSI), then Right-Click on any downloaded Table.RAR file and choose 7-Zip > Open Archive.
On The 7-Zip listing, there will be an arrow > to open the second menu where you will see the Open Archive command. Hold the mouse cursor over the 7-Zip listing and the second menu should open by itself.

[dwd58]

That is just too far over my head. I hope you guys can someday make things easier to play these things. I was pretty good on the old bingo machines. Made alot of money on them going through high school. Maybe I spent too much time on them and should have paid more attention through school. Thanks for all your help Sleepy, maybe I can get someone to come over and get these tables set up.

[sleepy]

Which folder are the table.zip files in that you downloaded?

Try clicking the Windows START button in the lower left corner. Do it now.

Click My Documents.

When the My Documents window opens, look for the downloads folder and open it.

By default, any downloaded files will be in this downloads folder, unless you downloaded the files to a different folder.

If the table.zip files that you have downloaded are here, then click on one using the right-side mouse button (this is a Right-Click) and from the list choose Open.

When the window opens the table.zip file and you can see the separate .vpt and .doc files, then Click on the tableName.vpt file to turn it Blue.

Then click on the Copy This File command when it appears on the left hand side of the window.

A copy menu appears.

On the copy list tree, click the C:\ drive, then Program Files, then Visual Pinball, then the Tables folder.

Then click the COPY button.

Open Visual Pinball, load the table that you copied and click the Play button.

[GSGregg]

Yo, sleepy, and hello, dwd58;

Sorry to tune in late, as it looks like I've missed some things. The default table I got with VP8 is Top Speed, not Top Gun, but I installed VP with the VPInstaller_1_0_3 from VPForums.org, so there could be differences.....I assume, though, that since you did at least get a table, your Tables folder is where it belongs. (And if it isn't, you can search for "Tables"---see below).

As to finding the tables that belong there but aren't, how about just a Windows Search? If you're using Windows XP as am I, click the start button and hover over "Search", then move right and click "For Files or Folders". In the "What do you want to search for?" balloon, click "All files and folders", and in the next balloon type whatever you like in one of the top two boxes, i.e. "golden gate" in 'All or part of the file name". If the "Look in:" box has My Computer, or Local Hard Drives (C:\), you're ready; click Search. (If you're using Vista or 7, begin at the Start Search box below the Start button; I imagine the procedure is sufficiently similar.)

If you find one of your table downloads, you may have found them all.

I wonder if the download utility was misdirected to save the zip-files to the "Choose a Program to Open this File" goody, whatever it's called, which may have been set to Adobe Reader.

[sleepy]

Hey GS, is the VPInstaller_1_0_3 for installing VP912, because these bingo tables are VP8 and older, or most of them are?

[GSGregg]

sleepy;

That Installer included VP8.1, VP9.02, VPinMAME 2.1 and the essential files.....later (current) versions of VP9 and VPM were obtained by updating, and the Bally 6803 goodies arrived later for downloading. There could be other things, too---memory takes a break every now and then.

When I joined VPF in early 2010, I think the only choices were VPInstaller_1_0_3 and Phoenixx's V.I.P. (Visual Install Pack?); when I replaced my scrambled HDD in March 2011 (bad DIMM tore up the files), I just DL'ed the same setup that I had used before. I think now they have stand-alone installs for 8.1 and 9.1.2, but since I'm content with the 103's package I haven't really kept up.


Gregg