On a real machine, the delay between the button press and the player’s reaction is almost instantaneous. To better understand this phenomenon well known to video game players, we need to define it physically: on a Vpin, it’s the time lapse between the button press and the player’s movement. Let’s tackle a subject that makes people angry! The latency of virtual pinballs: a real false problem? It is possible, for a fee, to reach 140 frames per second, but you will need a recent configuration. The display frequency is secondary, unless you want to go beyond 60 frames per second (minimum required to have good fluidity of the ball). Today, the standard is a 43″ screen in 4K which fits exactly in a “Wide-Body” case. When I started this adventure, the standard for a 1:1 scale cabinet was a 40″ screen in full HD (1080p for the purists). You might even be disappointed and give up your machine. Below this size, the board image will be too small and the game experience will not be as good as it should. If some people prefer to stay on reasonable dimensions and try the adventure with a minimalist version (because of lack of space), I would advise them not to go under a 24″ screen. This choice, which may seem insignificant, will affect the whole construction of the cabinet: its dimensions, the configuration of the PC within and the toys that will surround. The playfield display is the cornerstone of any Vpin. The importance of choosing the right screen. For the moment, the important thing to remember is that the cost of a vpin depends on the hardware that makes it up and the software (for the most part) being freely available on the web. Yes, but, we’ll come back to the virtual pinball box a little later. So what you’re telling me is: “Finally, a Virtual Pinball that is quite simple: a PC, a screen and two buttons…no need to make a big deal of it!” Not only is this software combo free, but so are all the tables that are made by the community. It’s hard when talking about virtual pinball machines not to mention the duo Visual Pinball X (VPX v10.7 at the time of writing) and VPINMAME (the cousin of the MAME emulator, very well known in the retrogaming world), since it offers the most beautiful reproductions of tables with emulation of the original ROMs. Sonic Pinball Mania, released on February 28th on Future Pinball (available on VPUniverse) Tales of The Arabian Nights (available on VPDB) Lord of The Rings (VPUniverse) Indiana Jones (VPUniverse) You may find the latter one is less popular, despite some nice adaptations like the new Sonic Pinball Mania table. If you are really looking for adapted software, you will find your happiness in open source, especially in Visual Pinball X and Future Pinball. For example, to play in portrait mode on Pinball FX, you will need to send an email to Zen Studio with a picture of your cabinet so that they can send you a unique code to “unlock” the cabinet function. However, these games do not offer an “out-of-the-box” integration for the Virtual Pinball. On the software side, other big names in the field of vpins include Pinball FX ( Zen Studio) and Pinball Arcade (Farsight Studio). From then on, its form and hardware can vary according to the desires, means and ideas of its creator. It has all the external elements of a real pinball machine, but the playfield is replaced by a screen and the heart of the system replaced by a PC (or console). If I were to try to put it in layman’s terms, I would say that a vpin is to pinball what a driving simulator is to cars. I created a “WIP” (a forum topic about my current project titled “Work-In-Progress”) in which I shared my progress, my questions, my changes of mind and lastly, the final result…it was long, but it was good! What does Virtual Pinball mean? Personally, I started the Vpin adventure almost 6 years ago, by joining the forum. So, in these conditions, what about the “virtual pin” solution? Seductive or not?įar from trying to convince you, I will try to synthesize what a good Vpin is and share with you my feedback on the subject.
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