VP8 Support File vpPlus - Main Program, examples and support package 1.4.0

[rascal]

Well the wait is over! Full of bugs or not, here is our first public release of vpPlus!

Here are a few things you should know.
1. You need Visual Pinball installed (ya think).
2. vpPlus uses Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or above (needs to be installed).
3. It is important that Visual Pinball always has the focus. You can't switch to another program during a network play. The game will crash!
4. The current chat function in the demo table only works reliably in full screen mode.
5. The table looks the best at 1024 x 768.
6. Two ports must be opened through your firewall and/or router (download the user guide).
7. Expect bugs! This is our first release. Please report your issues to us… at this time report them to the release thread on Pinball Originals.
Release Thread: http://www.pinball-originals.com/viewtopic.php?p=9141#9141 (this very thread)
WIP Thread: http://www.pinball-originals.com/viewtopic.php?t=1105 (Loading...)
We will see about setting up a more permanent form of reporting bugs.
8. vpPlus was developed without directly interfacing with Visual Pinball. So it is not perfect, and probably will never be, unless Randy Davis releases Visual Pinball as Open Source or invites us to make vpPlus part of the program. In other words, vpPlus runs outside of the Visual Pinball program, and does not have direct handles to the program.

We set up a site at www.vpPlus.org for download. This way we can immediately release new update and bug fixes.

Happy Holidays Everybody! The vpPlus Development Team hopes that you enjoy vpPlus and will help us continue to make it better.

VP8 - Support File - vpPlus - Main Program, examples and support package

This was a truly ground-breaking project by @rgade, @Steely and @rascal that offered a load of 3rd-party features to the VP app, circa 2006 - 2008. The key, shining breakthrough was the ability to play games against a live opponent, via the...

pinballnirvana.com

VP8 - Support File - vpPlus - Table Pack, featuring MAD, Super-Collider, and three more

Here's five tables converted to work with vpPlus by @bob and @Anthias. The tables are: MAD Magazine Super Collider Last Exile Chrono Crusade The Pit If you have vpPlus set up correctly, you'll be able to play against a friend over the internet...

pinballnirvana.com

 

[rascal]

I just did a Google search on vpPlus, and found our site (www.vpplus.org) at the top of the list! COOL!

I also saw that a emulation site called EmulationHQ has a mention of vpPlus too! EXTREMELY COOL!

Here is a link to that site.
http://www.emuhq.com/idx/190/3369/D...vpPlus-v10.html

They have a place for comments and ratings. We would sure appreciate any comments that you guys have on the project.

 

[rascal]

This could help boost activity in the scene! :)

 

[bob]

I'm here to tell you this vpPlus stuff could be the biggest thing to hit the VP scene since Pacdude. It allows you to play another person in another location in real time. You play your ball... then he plays his ball, just like it use to be done in the arcades, none of this single player crap, this is heads up competition. Put up or shut up :) It would be really cool to get some of those EM's vpPlus ready. 8)

All we need are some authors to learn how to code their tables for vpPlus play. I'm currently working on my MAD MAG table, coding is my weak point, but I'll get the table ready for vpPlus.

Thanks to Rascal and the vpPlus team for creating this exciting project.

 

[rascal]

Thanks Bob! I can't wait to play your MAD MAG table with you! I'm sure that you will smoke me on it, but I'll try to be some competition for you.

@All: Really, if you haven't tried it, please give it a try, and if you don't want to try it, please tell us why. We worked hard on this project because we thought it would bring some excitement back into the scene. Positive or negative comments, we would like to hear them all.

@Gamers: Let us know if you’re interested in pinball competition over the Internet or a LAN. It’s not just score tallying, it’s “you see what he/she seesâ€, total ball in play reproduction. If you like it, speak up, let the table authors know that you would like to see more tables with network play!

@Authors: The table that comes with vpPlus is totally unlocked, feel free to Mod it or copy any of it. The script is fully documented, and there is a developer’s guide downloadable from the vpPlus site. We are currently working on a series of smaller single featured tutorials that will explain each new feature in the vpPlus line up. The first one is already released; it explains how to use the vpImage object. Let us know what you think about it, or what you would like to see added to vpPlus. We really would like to get some input from all of you. We may never see a new version of VP released from Randy (I hope I’m wrong), so it’s up to all of us to build on to what we already have. I believe that we’re doing some neat stuff with our project. We added network play, and some additional graphic features and this is only the beginning. I’m just asking that you guys keep an open mind, give it a chance. Got questions? We would like to hear them. Got suggestions? We would like to hear them. We are working on additional tools for VP here! What do you want? Let us hear all your ideas.

WHY ISN'T VP-PLUS OPEN SOURCE? Nobody has asked me this question yet, but I want to answer it just the same. We talked about releasing it open source. We want to and will make it open source when we get tired of being its keepers. We are not going to leave you hanging. The main reason that we didn’t release the vpPlus COM object open source at this time is because we fear unofficial builds, mainly with the network component. We want you to be safe; we don’t want someone modifying the COM object to do anything harmful or malicious to your computers. When we finally do release it as open source, it will more than likely be released on SourceForge and everybody would be recommended to only trust those builds. We are not trying to get you hooked on it and then going to turn around and start charging you for updates/upgrades or anything like that. The vpPlus Development Team believes in and supports open source free for all programming, we are not going to turn our backs on the community for a profit. This baby is our contribution to the scene. I just want you to know this.

 

[Devil_Riders]

That´s a really nice ideaa ! Good luck !

 

[computerfrk1]

It will work good for tournaments at PinballUnlimited I am extremely impressed with this project

 

[rascal]

Lots of fixes and updates, here is what rgade says about it on Pinball Originals.

We're happy to announce the release of vpPlus version 1.2.0! The new release can be downloaded from the vpPlus homepage.

This update includes a megaton of bugfixes and should run better and more smoothly than ever. Major upgrades also include resource files to store all those extra graphics into a single file to be included with a table, and non-blocking network I/O with priority events. Anti-aliased decals eliminate the jagged grey lines around decals and they even appear properly in Windows 98 now!

I'd like to finish this announcement with a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us with this (continuing!) project! Many of the fixes and improvements we've made could not have happened without your feedback and encouragement! We look forward to continuing work on the project, with planned enhancements such as network server support to connect easily with others, a DMD display, and whatever else we and our loyal supporters can think of to enhance the Visual Pinball experience both online and off!

Download vpPlus from the vpPlus homepage. Right here at PN (see first post)

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Welp... I bumped in to this thread earlier today, and just had to do a proper update!

@Steely (who, rather unexpectedly, I'd already known from years earlier in the glorious Armagetron scene), gave me the honor of beta-testing this project, and I must say, it worked great! That was via VP6 or VP7 IIRC.

Didn't surprise me in the least that that crafty son of a gun @rascal was also involved in the goodness. ("great guy, just needs, I say just needs more vegetables in his life" --voice of Beauregard Claghorn)

So to bring the circle round, I've uploaded all the VP+ stuff that had been at Pinball-Originals (@Anthias' sister site of ours) plus some more VP+ tables I found in an internet archive.

The big question to me at this point is whether VP+ will actually work with VP8 on modern OS's. I'm kind of a tired old man at this point, but if anybody takes the lead on that, I'd be willing to cooperate as a practice dummy test partner, I guess.

This project is just too friggen' awesome to let sadly fade away IMO. Ah well, at least now we have a better historical record... plus all the files. :)

 

[Anthias]

Armagetron was freakin awesome fun. I remember those days fondly.