FPLaunch MOD: Pause and Loading screens...

[rockyrocket]

Just realised that blur is away for a while, so I'm going to have a crack at merging my last fplaunch, with blurs current, but I have a few questions for you guys.

1: Does anyone use their own (custom) images for the pause/load/exit overlays? I see in its latest incarnation, blur only gets the dimensions of the pause image and uses those to resize all. The reason I took dimensions from each was so that anyone could replace any image and still have a working script. If no one uses custom images, or plans to, then I'll leave it how blur has it.

2: If you're not going to use custom images, does anyone mind if I use a standard system font instead of the modified one used by hyperpin? If no one cares then all the images can be drawn on fly, rather than loaded from files. This should result in better display, images will be antialaised and won't suffer loss of quality from having to be resized.

3: Any other features that people want, that aren't in the todo list included with blurs latest release?

4: I currently use an exit menu, similar to the one in the hyperpin table selection, so pressing esc brings up a menu to return to game or esc to hyperpin, would people use this?

5: Do people use a seperate pause key, or tap esc to pause or both? (I have my 'service' key mapped to pause but never use it with my exit menu)

Maybe we should do a poll with what methods of pause/exit are preferred, instead of offering the choices and just go with the majority? Any suggestions or ideas?

sam, I am happy with the feature set that wip3 gives but to answer you questions..

1: yes i do use a custom pause image as found here..

http://www.retrovicio.org/foro/showthread.php?11973-Pausa-en-Hyperpin

3: nope

4: Maybe an illustration of your system can help us decide?

5: I use short tap of exit key to pause, then long press of exit to well exit with the 3-2-1 screen.

No dedicated pause button

Hope this helps

[samwyze]

1: yes i do use a custom pause image as found here..

http://www.retrovicio.org/foro/showthread.php?11973-Pausa-en-Hyperpin

Ok, so perhaps we could go both ways, if image file exits use that, else draw using math.

4: Maybe an illustration of your system can help us decide?

Sure I'll upload an example sometime today. Basically it looks the same as when you hit esc in hyperpin(minus the shutdown option)

font name is bauhaus

Damn! I had a modified version of bauhaus installed, it didn't match - redownloaded it - voila!

on pause (short press) it would be great to show instructions.swf file from hyperpin and on the bottom hyperpin grahics for using left and right flippers for browsing flyer and then of course on flipper buttons go to flyer images and on esc go back to game and on 1 or enter exit from table

Have you looked at showing swf within an ahk gui? It's possible and I like the idea, but I'd prefer to use my dedicated instructions key to bring it up. The flyer button could be used the same way.

PS, the code is looking good, seems you've refined it alot

I also had an idea to show hyperpin, visual pinball and future pinball trivia while paused - so it looks like we're on the same page - or at least in the same chapter

Edited July 31, 2011 by samwyze

[samwyze]

A seperate idea. Blur, you have a key set to enter the editor don't you (f4?) I think it makes sense for me to map that to my service key.

[blur]

Sure actually it is alt f4 bu can be anything

about those inst and flyer keys - i dont like too much keys on a cab

and too many hot keys takes more cpu cycles

but if you have menu system you can put instr and flyer there as menu items

so that in the end you still use one button and have all the extra in one totally hyperpinish menu system

i would like one addon from hp - big screen replay scores like instr swf

it would be great to have them from somewher. Like from inkochnito replay scores collection

Edited August 21, 2011 by blur

[samwyze]

Didn't realise (hadn't thought about it!) extra hotkeys used cpu, so learnt something In that case I completely agree.

Also I had a rethink about having user options (as oppossed to majority rules). Think it's better to keep all the options there - maybe just build a gui to set them up as it gets more customisable.

Regards 'inkochnito replay scores' - can you explain a little more what you mean? If we sort swf playing for the instructions it should be and issue I guess.

My minipin's gona need a rebuild - the cab itself is munted

(from liquifaction) - and the backglass monitor didn't survive the fall so it needs replacing. Grrrr. Anyway perhaps I'll leave out the instruction and flyer buttons - it always annoyed me that they were defunct once you were playing. My cab is/was similar to your minipin laptop thread, except as its a widescreen lappy I used that for the playfield.

The reason I asked about the service key was because, with my current script, it gets the hotkeys (except for pause) from the hyperpin settings.ini [keyboard] and [pinball wizard] rather than [FPLaunch]

I'm gona post it later today (or maybe pm you) - just adding something to the guis first. I haven't really looked at merging with your current as I don't have a properly functioning cab to test with and I know that it was working on my setup as is.

Edited August 1, 2011 by samwyze
service key question

[rockyrocket]

@rockyrocket

Try this:

if (systemName = "Visual Pinball") {
IfWinExist, Visual Pinball Player,, DMD
{
	IfWinActive, Visual Pinball Player,, DMD
	{
	 [color="Lime"]WinMaximize, Visual Pinball Player
                WinHide, HyperPin[/color]
                Break
	}
}

@blur: well, found my pincab under a pile of cr@p in the back of the shed. Managed to get my last version of FPLaunch off, this one has moved quite far since I last looked. When you're back, and if you can be bothered, you might want to have a look at it as it was using gdi+ to draw the overlays. Never really got to grasps with the gdi+ routines though, so it could probably be optimised quite a bit, and of course I only had routines for VP as I don't use FP.

Guys this is embarrassing, and I apologise after injecting sams code and breaking fplaunce through user error i reinstalled WIP4 and what you know the rascal works!.

What threw me off was that now the loading screen is the last thing to disappear after both the dmd and the UVP loads, which is not the order I had before but is obviously superior.

So mental note to self, dont be so impatient.

This means that apart from still needing to map E to exit WIP4 works fine for me.

[blur]

Tnx rocky!

[lstrunk]

Hi Blur, I have your newest FP launch. I am using an Ipac. Windows XP. If select a table it shows loading when done I can play game. If I press esc I get paused screen if I hold esc longer I do not get the exit in 3,2,1 but I can exit if when paused is on screen and I press 1 it will go back to hyperpin? What could cause this. I do have all the screens from earlier version as you say to get the graphics and then installed your newest version. What am I missing?

Thanks for this great program. I like it but would like to get the exiting in 3, 2, 1 screens.

Lonnie

[samwyze]

@rockyrocket, sorry - should have tested at my end first - lol. Glad it's working now though

@blur - I've been looking at the swf info for ahk, it's really simple for what we need, it might even be better to use swf for loading/pause etc... do you have a decent method to test load speeds/memory usage for the script?

Edited August 2, 2011 by samwyze

[Darkfall]

1: yes i do use a custom pause image as found here..

http://www.retrovicio.org/foro/showthread.php?11973-Pausa-en-Hyperpin

I love that custom pause image!

[samwyze]

I love that custom pause image!

I like them too, think that's where I got the initial pause routine from as well

Any ideas how to rotate a swf file once it's embedded?

Edited August 3, 2011 by samwyze
spelling sux

[samwyze]

Any ideas how to rotate a swf file once it's embedded?

Never mind, got that figured out, now just need a way to get height/width properties from the swf file before displaying it - anyone?

[blur]

For lonie - lonie try if long press works with versions 1.2 and 1.295 wip 3 and then we can debug

sam best perf measure is fps in vp

inkchnitos replay scores Www.inkochnito.nl are word and pdf files with scores on witch you get first secon and third replay - this is usually a label on apron oposite from instructions

since we will have instructions - i thought why not replay scores also

only problem is we have to convert them first

[samwyze]

inkchnitos replay scores Www.inkochnito.nl are word and pdf files with scores on witch you get first secon and third replay - this is usually a label on apron oposite from instructions

since we will have instructions - i thought why not replay scores also

only problem is we have to convert them first

Got you now, wasn't reading the post properly (or visiting link!) I'll look into it asap

[samwyze]

I can do pdf, but with a command-line pdf to png util (kinda cheating!) So far If I try and embed the pdf directly into a gui, I get adobes pdf controls displaying and uglying it up. Have you seen any ahk MSWord display scripts? I'm assuming this would be easier

[Darkfall]

I'd say that AHK isn't actually trying to read the files directly - it's just calling whatever plugin is installed to display the files. I'm guessing, but that'd explain the Adobe controls showing up. If you have Foxit Reader installed, I imagine you get Foxit controls, instead. The conversion from PDF to PNG is probably cleanest, for this type of thing, I'd think.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Darkfall

[Darkfall]

A quick question - where did we land on the showing the flyers and stuff during pause?

I'm in the middle of a cabinet build, and I deleted the Flyer and How to Play buttons in favour of this idea (and the pause button, actually, since that was going to work with a short press of exit, I was told). If I need to put those buttons back, it'd be good to know now, before I start drilling holes

Thanks!

[blur]

You cant expect deadlines from free project!!! People have lives you know.

As for converter sam - inkochnitos pdf and word files have lots of different versions of replay scores in one big file so from one file you can get several images for different game settings - three balls, five balls, free play, more difficult, less difficult, and finally image in table can be totally different (but you can edit word doc to match) and finally you have to define replay levels first in your table service mode

it would be difficult to convert this automatically

maybe first split one doc file in many small docs

Edited August 3, 2011 by blur

[Darkfall]

You cant expect deadlines from free project!!! People have lives you know.

I wasn't asking for a deadline - just whether or not we had a decision on what was happening with the flyer and instructions buttons being needed or not. If there's no decision yet, that's fine - I'll work around it - but if I don't ask, I'll never know, right?

[samwyze]

I'd say that AHK isn't actually trying to read the files directly - it's just calling whatever plugin is installed to display the files. I'm guessing, but that'd explain the Adobe controls showing up. If you have Foxit Reader installed, I imagine you get Foxit controls, instead. The conversion from PDF to PNG is probably cleanest, for this type of thing, I'd think.

Correct - I embedded an activex into the gui (the only way I KNOW to show pdf with ahk - hopefully there's another way )

A quick question - where did we land on the showing the flyers and stuff during pause?

Personally, I've decided to leave the buttons for use with the hyperpin front end - BUT I also plan to add them to an esc/pause menu that shows on short press (if turned on in settings) so it shouldn't matter either way for you. Also, I'd say this is a wee way off, I haven't even had a chance to send blur my current script.

inkochnitos pdf and word files have lots of different versions of replay scores in one big file so from one file you can get several images for different game settings - three balls, five balls, free play, more difficult, less difficult, and finally image in table can be totally different (but you can edit word doc to match) and finally you have to define replay levels first in your table service mode

it would be difficult to convert this automatically

maybe first split one doc file in many small docs

Hmmm, well lets have a think on that one. In the mean time I'll get the menu system updated to include flyer/instructions ready in my current script - then hand over to you to update with Future pinball and any improvements etc... That sound ok?

p.s. Is there any other source for replay images that might be easier (say bmp or png etc..)?

Edited August 3, 2011 by samwyze

[Dna Disturber]

Hi Guys.....

Wanted to bring on a highscore support MOD for FPLAUNCH

It uses the pause-screen to display the actual hiscores of the game.

It uses PINemHi , a program I wrote to get the hiscores out.

Here is the piece I use to make it work (instead of the pause image at the moment):

CreatePauseScreen:

Gui, Destroy

Gui, Color, 800000

Gui, Margin, 0, 0

;IniRead, romname,{insert your directory to hyperpin here}TabletoRom.ini,romfind,%tableName%

FileRead, romname,{insert your directory to hyperpin here}\%tableName%.txt ; use this instead of the IniRead above because of the performance in speed !

Runwait, %comspec% /c {insert your directory to vpinmame here}\PINemHi %romname%>{insert your directory to vpinmame her}\HiTemp.txt,,Hide

Fileread, contents,{insert your directory to vpinmame here}\HiTemp.txt

Gui,Font,s25,Verdana

Gui,Add,Text,CFF7F50 , %contents%

Gui +AlwaysOnTop -Caption +Lastfound

Gui, Show, AutoSize Center, pauseScreen

Return

When using the file %tableName%.txt this is just a file with the romname used for the game in it.....for example attack from mars.txt has afm_113b in it

You can also use an ini file that has the following in it:

[romfind]

black belt=blackblt

This is the more decent solution but I found out this was a bit slower than the fileread.

Hope the above makes sense and that someone can try it out.....

It's just a first draft so it could look a lot better

Dna Disturber

[ATTACH]8725[/ATTACH]

Here is the link to PINemHi thread :

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13655

[Darkfall]

Wanted to bring on a highscore support MOD for FPLAUNCH

It uses the pause-screen to display the actual hiscores of the game.

That is pretty cool. There's so much that can be done with the pause screen. It's a great place to grab information like scores, rules, etc.

[Darkfall]

Personally, I've decided to leave the buttons for use with the hyperpin front end - BUT I also plan to add them to an esc/pause menu that shows on short press (if turned on in settings) so it shouldn't matter either way for you. Also, I'd say this is a wee way off, I haven't even had a chance to send blur my current script.

Totally understand. Perhaps I'll put the "How to Play" button back into my build plan for now, then. Less buttons is great, but it's a little ways off, and I'd prefer not to be without the ability to see game rules. I can always reassign the button to something else later.

Thanks, samwyze.

[samwyze]

Hi Guys.....

Wanted to bring on a highscore support MOD for FPLAUNCH

It uses the pause-screen to display the actual hiscores of the game.

It uses PINemHi , a program I wrote to get the hiscores out.

Here is the piece I use to make it work (instead of the pause image at the moment):

CreatePauseScreen:

Gui, Destroy

Gui, Color, 800000

Gui, Margin, 0, 0

;IniRead, romname,{insert your directory to hyperpin here}TabletoRom.ini,romfind,%tableName%

FileRead, romname,{insert your directory to hyperpin here}\%tableName%.txt ; use this instead of the IniRead above because of the performance in speed !

Runwait, %comspec% /c {insert your directory to vpinmame here}\PINemHi %romname%>{insert your directory to vpinmame her}\HiTemp.txt,,Hide

Fileread, contents,{insert your directory to vpinmame here}\HiTemp.txt

Gui,Font,s25,Verdana

Gui,Add,Text,CFF7F50 , %contents%

Gui +AlwaysOnTop -Caption +Lastfound

Gui, Show, AutoSize Center, pauseScreen

Return

When using the file %tableName%.txt this is just a file with the romname used for the game in it.....for example attack from mars.txt has afm_113b in it

You can also use an ini file that has the following in it:

[romfind]

black belt=blackblt

This is the more decent solution but I found out this was a bit slower than the fileread.

Hope the above makes sense and that someone can try it out.....

It's just a first draft so it could look a lot better

Dna Disturber

[ATTACH]8725[/ATTACH]

Here is the link to PINemHi thread :

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13655

Great work I'm already getting the friendly name for the table from the xml using StrX() from Skan at ahk:

systemName = %1%
tableName = %2%
tableNameFriendly = "%tableName%"
xmlpath = %A_ScriptDir%\Databases\%systemName%\%systemName%.xml


FileRead, XML, %xmlpath%
Title := StrX( XML, "" . tableNameFriendly . ">" ,1,0,"</description>",1,14) 
NewTitle := StrX( Title, "<description>" ,1,13,"",1,1)
msgbox %NewTitle%
Return 



StrX( H,  BS="",BO=0,BT=1,   ES="",EO=0,ET=1,  ByRef N="" ) { ;    | by Skan | 19-Nov-2009 
Return SubStr(H,P:=(((Z:=StrLen(ES))+(X:=StrLen(H))+StrLen(BS)-Z-X)?((T:=InStr(H,BS,0,((BO 
<0)?(1):(BO))))?(T+BT):(X+1)):(1)),(N:=P+((Z)?((T:=InStr(H,ES,0,((EO)?(P+1):(0))))?(T-P+Z 
+(0-ET)):(X+P)):(X)))-P) ; v1.0-196c 21-Nov-2009 www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic51354.html 
}

but the info on PINemHi is really handy - damn I just redid the menus, now I'll have to add hiscore as an option!

Actually, shall we display them on backglass monitor when at pause menu?

Or add as an option for a paused splash if not using upcoming exit menu?

Or add an option to view on the upcoming exit menu?

Or all of the above?

Just re-read and see that you're the author of PINemHi - nice

Seems we're getting some ahk scripters gathering here - anyone like the idea of having a scriptlets dir in hyperpin so that individual scripts can be called from fplaunch - rather than growing fplaunch exponentially?

autohotkey.dll is allowed to be distributed so we could leave them (and run them) as ahk - no need to compile and easier for users to edit.

Any opinions?

@blur - I need to get flyer code finished then it's heading your way to get cleaned and FP added (also add your new exit routines and win activate order etc...)

Edited August 4, 2011 by samwyze
more options

[Dna Disturber]

Great work I'm already getting the friendly name for the table from the xml using StrX() from Skan at ahk:

but the info on PINemHi is really handy - damn I just redid the menus, now I'll have to add hiscore as an option!

Actually, shall we display them on backglass monitor when at pause menu?

Or add as an option for a paused splash if not using upcoming exit menu?

Or add an option to view on the upcoming exit menu?

Or all of the above?

Just re-read and see that you're the author of PINemHi - nice

Seems we're getting some ahk scripters gathering here - anyone like the idea of having a scriptlets dir in hyperpin so that individual scripts can be called from fplaunch - rather than growing fplaunch exponentially?

autohotkey.dll is allowed to be distributed so we could leave them (and run them) as ahk - no need to compile and easier for users to edit.

Any opinions?

@blur - I need to get flyer code finished then it's heading your way to get cleaned and FP added (also add your new exit routines and win activate order etc...)

Hi Samwyze ,

Thanks for wanting to put it in.

I'm not a AHK scripter I must say , just tried it to see if it would work...ahk is very powerfull...no doubt about that.

As for your options , all of the above sounds great of course.....so that people have a choice (cabinet or no-cabinet). Hope I'm not asking too much

A fake DMD above the real one would be the most awesome thing I suppose (don't know if that can be done)

Would it be possible to put the romname you use for a table into the xml and then extract that out. It would save the trouble of having to convert the tablename to a specific rom (don't need to make a file for it)?

I think your idea about ahk running with selected scripts is a great one....fplaunch is becoming somewhat of a monster (in size that is).

As long as it's not bad regarding performance I'd say Yes.....

I'll be working on the layout of PINemHi for the next version as I made it with a fake DMD scrolling the scores in mind (there is no separation between segments)...

And also will take a look at the size of scores (+Center was nice)....When there are differences in number of characters in the score it didn't look so great ......So maybe I can do something about that as well

a monospaced font would be best I think in the ahk script.

Keep up the good work....

Dna Disturber

Edited August 4, 2011 by Dna Disturber