How I ended up putting pinball guides on my VPX setup

[studmuffin]

I love real pinball, but I’m terrible at it. I’m also terrible at virtual pinball, so at least I’m consistent. VPX does a good enough job for me that I keep coming back to it, even though I don’t have room for a cabinet and my wife would probably kill me if I brought one home.

 

My setup lives at my desk. I have a 1080p, 240 Hz gaming monitor turned sideways on an arm for the playfield, with a widescreen monitor for the backglass. I use a PinOne controller from Cleveland Software Design, SSF speakers in the desk, and solenoids clacking away in there. It’s a slightly odd arrangement, but it works for me.

 

I mostly play solid-state tables, though a good EM or an original table like Cuphead or Charlie Brown Christmas can hold my interest. We even have tournaments at home. My wife and kid are usually competing for first place. I have yet to win one.

 

Because I’m always forgetting what to shoot for, I started making illustrated guides from the table rules and putting them into PinUP Popper’s Tutorial mode. Now I can pull up a guide on the setup where I’m actually playing. I’ve made guides for a bunch of tables and thought other people might find them useful too.

 

 

The guides: Curious Side Quests pinball guides

 

For Popper users: I’ve also shared the files and installation notes on GitHub. Please back up your Popper configuration and use them at your own risk. Popper can be a configuration adventure; this works on my setup, but I can’t promise it will drop neatly into yours.

 

A few tables have artwork that’s PG-13 by nature. I’ve kept those guides behind a click so you can choose whether to open them.

 

I’m sharing these because I like using them and thought someone else might too. I’m not looking for a critique of the guides or my setup, or a debate about real versus virtual pinball. Also, there is AI slop, dad jokes, and eye rolling stuff everywhere.  If you hate that stuff, just avoid it and save yourself the stress.  This is an ongoing work in progress, so have fun!

 

I sometimes play in VR with a Meta Quest, but the tracking still doesn’t feel quite right to me, even when I get the latency down. In particular, side to side motion is so jumpy that it makes me ill.  I’m curious about the Steam Frame for VPX if anyone here has tried it.

[GeorgeH]

I usually just shoot for the targets that have blinking lights near them.  Your solution seems more eloquent.  

 

On one of my previous table mods, I identified the target to hit next on the HUD as the game played.  If your setup works as a pup-pack, you could add triggers to display the next target during the game.  Unfortunately, it is more complex to implement than it might seem.  

[studmuffin]

I am sure you do better than I do score wise and entertainment-wise.   I just nerd out studying the rules.  I want to believe that knowing the rules can make me better.  But it has not played out that way. I am a rulebook/instruction manual reader.  Reading these entertains me.