FPLaunch MOD: Pause and Loading screens...

[bent98]

I am requesting you add 2 additional and important pieces of code the next version of fplaunch.

1)Use custom B2S settings per table in Hyperpin

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=20807&hl=%2Bb2s+%2Bfplaunch

2) I don’t have link for it but essentially it allows you to disable ledcontol.ini so people with forcefeedback on their cabs can turn it on and off through the HS menus.

.

Blur,

Are either of these added to the latest WIP? If not, I would greatly appreciate it if you did.

Thanks

[nebrunner]

Blur with the new B2s sometimes a .net error window will pop up on the backglass, taking focus and asking you to click "continue" or "cancel" I will try to get you a picture next time this happens. The thing is that ignoring it seems like you can continue playing with no issues, but the problem with that is on a cabinet, there is no mouse handy to take focus back to hyperpin and the pinball game. Was wondering if it is possible to have the program see if the backglass is behind the error and automatically bring it back to the front?

[blur]

Blur,

Are either of these added to the latest WIP? If not, I would greatly appreciate it if you did.

Thanks

Did you tested new version with hiscores?

[blur]

Blur with the new B2s sometimes a .net error window will pop up on the backglass, taking focus and asking you to click "continue" or "cancel" I will try to get you a picture next time this happens. The thing is that ignoring it seems like you can continue playing with no issues, but the problem with that is on a cabinet, there is no mouse handy to take focus back to hyperpin and the pinball game. Was wondering if it is possible to have the program see if the backglass is behind the error and automatically bring it back to the front?

i never saw this error - it must be some driver incompatibility. you probably get it if you run table outside hyperpin too?

checking all the time for windows to close them while you play is not a good idea - it takes too many cpu cycles

[bent98]

Did you tested new version with hiscores?

I am at work so I did not. Are they added as well?

[nebrunner]

i never saw this error - it must be some driver incompatibility. you probably get it if you run table outside hyperpin too?

checking all the time for windows to close them while you play is not a good idea - it takes too many cpu cycles

You are probably right. I'll try to get a screenshot anyway, maybe someone else has gotten the error before and found a fix for it.

[blur]

I am at work so I did not. Are they added as well?

No problem, my men. Take your time - actually i already have even newer version there.

I've changed hiscores so that they are drawn outside of visible sceen and rotated to avoid blinking in the middle of the screen.

I didn't put those other features cause i'm putting them one by one - to test it easier and faster without to much bugs.

So now i'm putting these small changes and releasing only exe and ahk but they will all be in next full version with images and all.

Edited January 25, 2013 by blur

[blur]

You are probably right. I'll try to get a screenshot anyway, maybe someone else has gotten the error before and found a fix for it.

yeah, fix is usually to use exactly one specific version of driver, check with rosve - author of b2s, maybe he knows

i think directb2s is not using .net because it was too unstable

[bent98]

No problem, my men. Take your time - actually i already have even newer version there.

I've changed hiscores so that they are drawn outside of visible sceen and rotated to avoid blinking in the middle of the screen.

I didn't put those other features cause i'm putting them one by one - to test it easier and faster without to much bugs.

So now i'm putting these small changes and releasing only exe and ahk but they will all be in next full version with images and all.

Thanks. cant wait for the other 2 features.

[nebrunner]

[blur]

This looks like you are using different version of b2s exe and vpt table, and some objects called from table script are not in b2s exe.

Try to download latest table and b2s exe and also latest b2s.vpt.

[blur]

Ok so first update is done - dnadisturber's pinemhiscores are in the fplaunch 1.295 wip 9 with hiscores version downloadable from link above.

Next thing i wanted to do is to debug loss of focus on exit.

This is an old problem that happens on win7 with multiple screens, on xp and on win7 with one screen there is no loss of focus.

Focus problems are much more frequent since i changed hyperpin.exe to run in native mode since and compatibility mode produces huge memory leak that kill the machine after few hours.

Bill55 reported that on his rig with xp! fplaunch.exe is not closing on uvp tables, and he made patch for that - vbs script that kills fplaunch.

Later he found that moving taskbar to backglass screen also solves this problem.

But i wanted to test if this will solve my loss of focus problems.

Here are test results. I already posted this on vpf - but here it is again:

Yesterday i tested this fplaunch.exe killing from vbs to see if it will solve focus problems on windows 7.

First i tested with taskbar on playfield cause that's the situation when you had problems - when taskbar is on pf.

I tested it for a long time and it worked ok - i've got focus on every exit from table.

Then i moved taskbar to backglass cause it's easier for me to work with taskbar on backglass - and again i would lost focus on hyperpin after i exit the table - so fplaunch kill did not help.

Then i thought - hm maybe it's not this kill that helps with focus - maybe it's because of taskbar on pf - so i tested again with fplaunch without kill - and it works - i never got hyperpin out of focus after exit from game.

So conclusion for me is - on windows 7 taskbar on playfield solves problems with loss of focus on exit from table - killing fplaunch from vbs is not necessary. And when taskbar is on backglass screen - nothing helps and you have frequent loss of focus on exit from tables.

So on windows 7 for me it's better to have taskbar on playfield. For xp it's probably better to have taskbar on backglass but test both.

People that have problems with focus on exit from tables should try this and report back.

So solution is to move taskbar to playfield - funny since i remember there were some problems when taskbar is on playfield.

Now on to the next things to put in - like multple choices of fp exe (just like there is a choice of vp.exe) and other new features...

[blur]

Post aproved.

Edited January 28, 2013 by blur

[evil eye]

It's the site's auto-spam filter, it's happening a lot lately. Anyway, looks like someone approved your post. Thanks for the update!

[Zablon]

So solution is to move taskbar to playfield - funny since i remember there were some problems when taskbar is on playfield.

Now on to the next things to put in - like multple choices of fp exe (just like there is a choice of vp.exe) and other new features...

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Sorry Blur but no this isn't the issue. My taskbar has always been on the PF and loss of focus happens on occasion, and even more with with that latest FPlaunch Hiscore ahk). ---- Win 7-64bit w/ 2 screens. I will change it to the BG to see if that makes a difference.

[horseyhorsey]

Now on to the next things to put in - like multple choices of fp exe (just like there is a choice of vp.exe) and other new features...

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Hi mate. I have this in my custom FPlaunch and was planning to add it into FP profile manager so it can be used on a per table basis. The config, exes and custom cameras

[blur]

Here is a new version with support for different fp exe

put them in fpexetables.txt in settings directory

format is one line for table name - without fpt, and next line for fp exe you want to use with this table

same format is for vpexetables.txt - name is changed - it was vp908tables.txt before

pinemhi is included, fpclose vbs script is also included so you can try it in case you have problems with focus.

focus code is improved so i hope you won't need fpclose

zip file is on vpu http://vpuniverse.com/forums/index.php/topic/135-hyperpin-hi-scores/?p=1248

Edited January 29, 2013 by blur

[Zablon]

Seems to work great! I went through about 20 tables and had no focus issues. Also Hyperpin overall seems a bit faster.

[jasonsmith]

Just curious guys what this focus issue is exactly...

EDIT: Re: FP Tables

Here is the issue I am having. On XP when I hit the pause button the playfield stays visible and the pause and high scores would show. The same when I held the exit for the 3,2,1 countdown, the playfield would remain.

I just installed Win7 64bit and when I hit pause the screen blacks out, I get the pause menu but no high scores any longer. Also while holding to exit the screen also goes black and stays black for a bit until it goes back to HyperPins wheel screen.

Is this the focus issue?

Edited January 30, 2013 by jasonsmith

[kiwisoup]

I'm not sure what my issue is, but before the mod everything worked fine, but with the mod, the loading screen only flashes for a second, then the VP editor takes focus and when I switch to the playfield it keeps switching back. I've tried loading the editor not maximized then running hyperpin which kinda fixes that issue but the loading screen is still not working correctly. Exiting and pausing works just fine though. Maybe there's a fix somewhere in this thread but 115 pages is a lot to sort through. Any help?

[Zablon]

Just curious guys what this focus issue is exactly...

EDIT: Re: FP Tables

Here is the issue I am having. On XP when I hit the pause button the playfield stays visible and the pause and high scores would show. The same when I held the exit for the 3,2,1 countdown, the playfield would remain.

I just installed Win7 64bit and when I hit pause the screen blacks out, I get the pause menu but no high scores any longer. Also while holding to exit the screen also goes black and stays black for a bit until it goes back to HyperPins wheel screen.

Is this the focus issue?

Yes and no. Part of it is just how Win 7 handles priorities, but the actual focus issue is when you exit a table and and can no longer control Hyperpin because it is no longer in the front -- instead you can see your task bar. Which means you have to either have a mouse to click Hyperpin to the front, or shutdown and reboot.

The black screen you see when pausing is normal in Win 7 and currently no workaround that I'm aware of.

It is also the reason that the built in screen cap doesn't work in Win 7 -- however I have found a workaround for that, it's a bit more complicated, but it does work from within Hyperpin.

All of these issues are related to the focus issue, however only the taskbar part is really annoying.

[blur]

Just curious guys what this focus issue is exactly...

EDIT: Re: FP Tables

Here is the issue I am having. On XP when I hit the pause button the playfield stays visible and the pause and high scores would show. The same when I held the exit for the 3,2,1 countdown, the playfield would remain.

I just installed Win7 64bit and when I hit pause the screen blacks out, I get the pause menu but no high scores any longer. Also while holding to exit the screen also goes black and stays black for a bit until it goes back to HyperPins wheel screen.

Is this the focus issue?

nope, this is not focus issue - this looks like windows 7 don't like fp very much, of fp doesn't like win 7 and it doesn't let you to draw screens on top of it - that's why menus are not visible, but they are there in background - you can't get to them with alt-tab - because again - win7 and fp won't let you - but you can do ctrl-alt-del, open task manager - and then with alt-tab you can go thorugh fplaunch windows - this is not solved yet

focus issue is simply when you exit table and don't get focus on hyperpin

[blur]

I'm not sure what my issue is, but before the mod everything worked fine, but with the mod, the loading screen only flashes for a second, then the VP editor takes focus and when I switch to the playfield it keeps switching back. I've tried loading the editor not maximized then running hyperpin which kinda fixes that issue but the loading screen is still not working correctly. Exiting and pausing works just fine though. Maybe there's a fix somewhere in this thread but 115 pages is a lot to sort through. Any help?

Is it latest fplaunch with hiscores and variable fp exe?

It looks like you have some errror window - on error vp is focused - otherwise it is minimized during launch.

[blur]

Yes and no. Part of it is just how Win 7 handles priorities, but the actual focus issue is when you exit a table and and can no longer control Hyperpin because it is no longer in the front -- instead you can see your task bar. Which means you have to either have a mouse to click Hyperpin to the front, or shutdown and reboot.

The black screen you see when pausing is normal in Win 7 and currently no workaround that I'm aware of.

It is also the reason that the built in screen cap doesn't work in Win 7 -- however I have found a workaround for that, it's a bit more complicated, but it does work from within Hyperpin.

All of these issues are related to the focus issue, however only the taskbar part is really annoying.

I never had problems with taskbar - only with focus.

Taskbar is hidden all the time.

For taskbar it is important not to use autohide option - autohide option will mess everything up.

[blur]

koadic - your custom b2s code is not downloadable any more - since vpf forum upgrade probably - can you upload just ahk here (no need for exe).

boogies2 can you post your code for DWJukebox and LEDBlinky compatiblity, or if you don't have the code right now - explain what does it do and how - so that i can decide will it go to next release

deegor from here i can't download from dropbox but will check it tonight, until then, can you describe what you do exactly - just move ledcontrols.ini around? how did you added it to menus?

Edited January 30, 2013 by blur