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FPLaunch MOD: Pause and Loading screens...


samwyze

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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.

what's the workarund? there use to be screen capture script in fplaunch but is is removed since i moved to printscreen

maybe i should go back to capture screen script?

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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.

what's the workarund? there use to be screen capture script in fplaunch but is is removed since i moved to printscreen

maybe i should go back to capture screen script?

When I say taskbar, we're talking about the same thing, on mine, when Hyperpin loses focus I can see the edge of the task bar, where normally I can't, however I believe I use hidden task bar, so I'll try w/o next time I have the issue. So far with the latest fplaunch, hasn't been an issue.

I figured out how to screen cap FP after messing around with Monopoly and FlashVP. I know, thats VP you say...but I figured out you could force FlashVP behind the table and the table would run flawlessly.

All the "issues" we see appear to simply be layering priorities due to the way VP/FP interact with windows and other windows (including Hyperpin)..or at least..that's my take on it.

To screen cap FP tables from within Hyperpin here is what I have found works:

1. Open Paint Progam (I keep 2 open for this, one for BG one for PF)

2. Open up a windows explorer window - just so you have one open as it makes it a bit easier for this to work

3. Run Hyperpin/Run table

4. Alt-tab 3 times in a row (this takes focus off the table, however table is still only thing visible)

5. Press print screen

6. This is where it can get tricky the first few times you do it. You have to force all Hyperpin/Table graphics to the back, which sometimes takes a few tries since they are coded to force themselves to the front. Alt-tab a few times, but setting it so focus is on either a folder, or HPGlass, anything but Hyperpin/FP tables programs (when you alt-tab you can see the icons for the different programs that are running). Eventually, you'll end up with another window on top. If you have trouble, you can also hit the Windows key to help. Once you have a window on top you can bring your paint program to the front (by alt tabbing or clicking on taskbar) and Ctrl-V your cap into the paint program. If when you paste you see black instead of the playfield, try again by bringing focus back to table and alt-tabbing a few times.

7. Click table to bring focus back to table

8. Exit table (goes back into Hyperpin

9. Alt-tab to paint program you pasted into. You will have both PF/BG in the same image, so you have to manually edit them. I cut BG out and paste it into the 2nd paint program.

Like I said, it's a bit more complicated, but it does work and doesn't take as long as it might seem from the # of steps and you can do one table after another pretty quickly because you never leave Hyperpin.

Not sure how you could automate this, but maybe you can devine what is causing this behavior if you play with what I've shown here and work around it if we're lucky :)

Edited by Zablon
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When I say taskbar, we're talking about the same thing, on mine, when Hyperpin loses focus I can see the edge of the task bar, where normally I can't, however I believe I use hidden task bar, so I'll try w/o next time I have the issue. So far with the latest fplaunch, hasn't been an issue.

Nope, i didn't saw even the edge of the taskbar for more then a year - since i removed auto hide option.

I tested a while ago exactly this and found that you can't do anything with tasbar from fplaunch if taskbar is on autohide - whatever you do - hide it/show it - after you exit fplaunch taskbar comes back.

But when you remove auto hide option from taskbar properties - whatever you do to taskbar it stays - so you can hide it or show it.

Interesting find for this print screen and drawing over fp window problem, maybe it will be possible to do something from ahk.

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Question. For running the table independent FP.exe. CAn you make it so the script looks for the tables desciption rather then the table name? Table names can get updated often as new versions of the table comes out, where the description stays the same.

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tnx jason - i will continue to look how to get this printscreen and menus from fp - on my rig it is awful - totally random - one time it works, next time it doesn't, then it works again, then it doesn't, then it works several times just so that you can't get any pattern out of it, ...

for bent:

answer: fp exe is table independent, as for fpexetables settings - they can't be table independent since you want to use them on exactly one table, using description is out of the question since description is not unique - several tables can have same description, and when you change table it is not difficult to change this txt file, and vp is using same approach, and hp description standard is going to change any way. Maybe some day i will put these settings in xml since i can easily parse xml tags from ahk - so all external settings files could be removed.

to deegor and others who are interested:

I was looking at this code/images for enabling/disabling leds from the table menu - first - it doesn't disable lights right away, you have to exit from the table and get back for it to work - so some physical switch that would turn off all lights immediately would be a much better solution - something like this old williams coin door switch used on flash, can you use it?

post-15873-142870584412_thumb.jpg

If you want to turn off leds not because of lights but to get some CPU cycles - then question is do you do it always on same tables - if you do then you can disable led settings for only that table in ledcontrols.ini which i think needs configs for every table anyway, right? If you want to have it enabled and then disabled on same table question is why? And can you do it with physical switch.

Second - question is how many people really need and use this - if i would put every feature that you guys can come up with on menu - very soon we would have menu that is five pages long.

So shortly i can't put this on menu.

But i can add some shortcut keys that will do this action (it is only file copy) - since no body has so many buttons on a cab you can then change this button in settings and put whatever you like in it. You can put single key or combo (remember that ahk can't work with joystck combos!). To make this button choice even easier - i can make this hotkey button active only when you are in menus - so when you are in menu you need only four keys - up, down, enter and exit (though in latest version each one of these keys can have double buttons assigned) - i can add fifth key for enabling/disabling leds- This way you don't need any new key on cab - you can use coin insert key or start game keys which you must have anyhow. Same could be done for sound volume.

Do you need one key for enabling and one disabling leds or one can be used for both?

Beware that when you are in menus playfield animations are stopped but pinmame is running - so if you press start game - vp will stop all old games running and start new one - which is not important since you have to exit table anyway.

Edited by blur
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It's not so much about disabling / enabling LEDs, but a software switch to enable / disable force feedback as a "night mode" when your kids / wife are sleeping. Yes you could do a hardware based switch, and I did that with the Batpin, but others may not want to go and rewire everything in order to support the hardware switch. This was an easy add on to accomplish a software based solution. To be honest, I didn't put a lot of time into it, so there may be a better way to implement this. I wasn't quite sure how to add the file swap functionality without going into the table menu first. I believe you need to make the file swap before VP renders the table though.

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Yes, if you do it before table loads it will be used in that game. But then you have very little time for signal from user that he wants to toogle leds so it's impossible to do it in that period.

So putting hot key active only while you are in menus would be quite ok?

If hotkey is active only in menus - that's advantage - not disadvantage - cause you don't have to waste button for that.

And i was thinking - no error messages - just move one file to another depending on which one currently exists - and close menus - so that you know that you succeeded in toggling leds - and maybe that standard solenoid sound used on menus?

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I kind of like the hotkey idea, but there should be some sort if visual indication that the feedback has been toggled on or off. This might also be an issue with people that use the nanotech board for their encoder, as all of those keys already have a function, and they have no ability to reassign those keys.

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Blur...I have a really noob question. With FPLaunch.exe and FPlaunch.ahk - are they the same script? Or does FPLaunch.exe call on things within the .ahk file. I'm kinda new to the whole ahk thing and have been editing the .ahk file thinking it should be taking changes, but I'm not seeing it happen :) Am I supposed to edit the ahk file and then recompile it and replace the FPLaunch.exe?

EDIT: Just tested this theory and made some progress...now to work out the kinks :D

Edited by Zablon
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Here is another new version:

http://vpuniverse.com/forums/index.php/topic/135-hyperpin-hi-scores/?p=1341

This is change log, still not finished so no full zip file with all, just ahk and exe:

1.295 wip 10

+ highscores added tnx to dna disturber, bleasby and horseyhorsey

+ custom b2s settings from koadic added

+ ledcontrol on off button added to menus - tnx to deegor

+ toLog added to every function

+ focus code on exit changed a bit (loop added, triple checks)

+ exitemulatorkey changed to exitkey

+ pausekey changed to exitkey1

+ exitemulatorKey2 and 3 changed to enterkey and enterkey1

+ usepausekey true/false removed (it is always used same as exit key)

+ #winactivateforce added again

+ memory leak in hyperpin found if used in comp. mode - USE NATIVE MODE

+ taskbar problems - auto hide taskbar HAS TO BE OFF in windows

+ some menu images updated

Watch out for some new key names and configure them first, default key for toggling ledwiz is 1 - start key, cause every body has it

Edited by blur
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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?

I'll post something shortly, just gotta get a little free time to look through my code and see if I can explain what I did :/

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I'm actually working on that now (for use with PinDMD). I'm having difficulty making it work from only within FPLaunch though. For some reason if you start it anywhere in the FPLaunch script, it doesn't start HyperDMD. I even tried putting it in the very first line. If you start it externally (from another ahk script that calls hyperpin) it works within Hyperpin, and works flawlessly with Visual Pinball with just -kill / -start commands entered into the FPLaunch script ( but it works GREAT).

-kill location for HyperDMD in Visual Pinball

;Run Minimized was the best way I could hide the vp editor and

;play loading screens as WinHide didn't seem to find them sometimes

Run, C:\Hyperpin\HyperDMD\HyperDMD.exe -kill

-start location for Visual Pinball

CloseVP:

toLog("CloseVP Called")

Hotkey, %exitScriptKey%, Off

Run, C:\Hyperpin\HyperDMD\HyperDMD.exe -start

Future Pinball on the other hand is another story. It appears to require a complete -exit of HyperDMD and then a reload of the program when dropping back into Hyperpin. It's not really an issue by itself it works pretty good and not much slowdown, however when combined with Visual Pinball's calls to HyperDMD, it gets unreliable. It probably is that I'm not putting the commands in the exact right spots, or a matter of the program running through those commmands one after another when it shouldn't be - but I've tried lots of scenarios with no success. (I just spent 6 hours straight trying to hash it out).

I put the -exit call for Hyper DMD in this line for Future Pinball

Run, "%emuPath%\%executable%" /open "%tablePath%\%tableName%.fpt" /play /arcaderender,,Min UseErrorLevel

Run, C:\Hyperpin\HyperDMD\HyperDMD.exe -exit

And the restart of it here:

CloseFP:

toLog("CloseFP Called")

Run, C:\Hyperpin\HyperDMD\HyperDMD.exe -set Attract -scene Attract -start -silent

These locations do not appear to be correct as I one by one eliminated all HyperDMD commands and saw odd behavior where it would be running in the background when it shouldn't have been or wouldn't start up when it should have. Other times it would.

I also tried controlling all of it from a differen't ahk, but not really having luck there, tried doing loops, if's/ elses, etc..and no luck. Again, noob at this ;) Unless Blur could add a setting to the settings.ini to toggle if you want to run HyperDMD and if you have a PinDMD or a 3rd screen, it might be best to have this self contained, but I'll let the pros decide that. It's just a fun little time trying to learn some scripting ;p (sorry for the book)

Edited by Zablon
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boogies you can just post your complete fplaunch and i will check differences with my release and see what you added

i did some fixing with error detection which are not yet in this last published version (it allows to work on tables that report error - no mouse moving around and some winwaitactive are removed)

hyperdmd can also be inserted

deegor this feedback on of actually turns ledwiz on and off and it makes sense only if you have ledwiz set to true, right?

cause i made it that way - if ledwiz is false hotkey for turning feedback on and off won't be activated.

i've got some great news from vpf - looks like some focus problems are gone, even on windows 7

main things to watch out for are:

in win7 hyperpin has to be in native mode - otherwise it will have memory leak

windows auto hide taskbar setting has to be off (in taskbar properties)

taskbar has to be on playfield (primary screen)

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Yes but I don't think he understood what I was asking, because he repeated what I had already said and the code is for working with HyperDMD in tables, not FPlaunch. There was confusion because I was talking about pinDMD and the other person was talking about just a 3rd screen which require different methods.

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Blur, Here's my fplaunch along with a couple other files that help it run (batch and shortcuts)

I seen another user with a dropbox link, and it's new to me...

Please let me know if the link doesn't work.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xztr0l4r39geb7t/LedBlinky.rar

BTW: I also modified it to run B2S files w/o modifying each table (makes more sense to me to modify one fplaunch file than every B2S file.)

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