Feb 1st is Virtual Pinball Appreciation Day

[robobet]

Yeah !

Love my hobby

Love you all (especialy content creators !!)

[JFR1]

Back in '17 I was on Pinside scrolling through the Show Pics of Game Rooms thread (fascinating thread that's 11 years old and still running strong) and spotted a comment under a pic on page 13 - - 

"OK, someone's gotta ask... 

Tell us what's up with your IJ cabinet with a STTNG translite, TZ dmd bezel and who knows what for an (unpopulated?) playfield..."

 

The answer from the pic poster included the words 'virtual pinball'.   Alrighty then, had never heard that term...google that...and then a few other things...and then some YouTube videos and I have been on the greatest adventure since.  If not for finding those posts I may never have found this amazing community.  

Would love to thank all the extraordinary minds this journey has had me cross paths with but that's not possible.  So will just thank Dazz for all the time, effort and $ spent building up this site to accommodate those of us that came over from Vpinball .

Oh...I was on that thread looking for a pin I played back in high school in the 80's that I loved and could not remember the name.  Never found it on that thread.  But a few years back when bord started sharing the wip of Time Warp      BOOM!!   That was it!  

[EpeC]

The best way I have to thank the community of creators is to contribute my own grain of sand, sharing my creation in which I have put a small part of everything I learned from them.

Thank you and enjoy.

 

EpeC.

[Rod_72]

Big shout out and thanks to everyone involved in making this experience great, your hard work and dedication shows and is greatly appreciated, The VP community is so sharing and very helpful, thanks for making my experience in this hobby a blast, can't wait to see what the future brings with all your creativeness on display....... truly appreciate every one of you!!!!

[KiwiBri]

I remember just wanting to play Pinball Arcade on a big screen, and I didn't think much of VPX until I got more into researching it..  I spent a Lot of time and effort building my cabinet. Perhaps about 10-12 months buying parts and planning my build, before even starting work on it...  I would like to thank the guys who helped me in those early days (2016+ ) who contributed - I was mainly on VPF at the time -  BIG thank you to MJR for his help with the Pinscape project, and to TerryRed for all the tips and information regarding LED Matrix setup etc.  Software has come a long way with manual installs of VPX/DOF/Pinscape/Pin2DMD/Freezy etc!  Learnt a lot , which has helped me solve issues as I've come across.  NailBuster for the great idea of PuP.

 

Next, comes all the content creators.. VPX tables, B2S, PuP Packs, Front end media, etc so many names to name, but a big thank you. We have more than enough to choose tables and recreations to choose from. I have actually got into the older Sterns recently and have enjoyed them as they bring back memories gazing at rows of pinball machines back in the arcades mid 1980s.  

 

Lastly, to the Websites that have come and gone -  MonsterBashCab, VPinball and VPU - thanks for giving a place for us to connect,

 

🍻

[Neil82591]

I tried to start in this hobby pre baller. There were a few good sites to go to and find content. Then life got in the way. I stayed in the forums and Facebook groups and watched until I could start my journey. I have watched as sites have gone by the wayside for one reason or another while I watch this site grow and flourish. Honestly without the hosting provided here and VPForums I don’t think this hobby would be as alive as it is now. 
 

Creators, wow there are so so many contributors to this hobby from the devs, coders, testers of all the software we use to play content and then the content creators themselves. People like Joey, JP Salas, VPW Crew, haunfreaks, Wildman, John Memeo, Terry Red, Andrew Walsh and so so so many many more. I have shouted this on Facebook and also in the Forums YOU, EVERYONE OF YOU ARE ALL ROCK STARS TO ME!!

 

 

The countless hours invested in content and selfless help to all of us who struggle even with the basics. 
 

Thank you to all who contribute!!

[Drain-O]

To all the table authors, graphics artists, source coders and everyone else who make this all possible. VPX is not only a total love letter to the classic table we grew up on, but a place to invent new tables and ways to play pinball. You've not only paid homage to such a wonderful hobby, but you lowered the barriers to entry by making the experience something that many people can now dive into affordably. Thank you for everything you do!

[Rosieodonell]

Funny thing,

 

Like all the rest of you i got caught in this thing called covid. Forced to work from home I was getting bored and my sanity was starting to crack a bit. I always wanted an acrade being a baby from the 80s, some of my best memories was playing arcade at the local town in shop.

But i was shocked to find a youtube video from Terryred and my eyes were blown right open. I knew i had to have something more than just a pinball and something more than just an arcade. I found myself pulling computer parts from all over the house, laying it on the floor in the shape of a table. Slowly i started to program and received so much pleasure each time i got a new table, puppack, etc to work. Once i felt i had enough to take the next step, I was able to make it a project with my father to build the actual cabinet from scratch. We spent many days working together, planning, sketching etc.. it was amazing to bond over this because we never had time when i was younger.

 

I know that it sounds cheesy but i don't think i could have gotten this far into the pandemic and kept my sanity etc... without all the great tables, videos, media that you guys all created and shared with the world. I will always be grateful and i am thankful to each and everyone of you!

Cheers!

Rosieodonell (Mike - from Kelowna, BC, Canada)

[workerboy]

A big thank you to everyone who contributes anything from the community, be it a content author, a site manager, an administrator or just a helpful person! I am so grateful for this fantastic entertainment opportunity, I wish this super community survives and develops in the future! Thank you for the daily pleasures! 🥰

[stefanaustria]

🥂

[jimspin]

My sincerest thanks to all the creators and contributors for sharing their incredible talent, skill, and time to make the VP community what it is. It's only been a few months since I got into this hobby, but not a day has gone by since I got my cabinet that I haven't had a blast playing and/or tweaking my tables, and I owe a ton of thanks to the community. Thanks for all you do, and for the literally hundreds of hours of joy you've provided me by allowing me to revisit many tables I used to play in my younger years, and discovering so many other tables that I never had the pleasure of playing before. Bravo!

[Dr.Nobody]

I love being part of this community. Massive thanks to the creators of tables, pup packs, wheels , baller installer etc etc. They are all inspirational to me. Thanks especially to the guys who have taken me under their wing to help me develop some skills ( I’ll get better  )

 

You all rock …

[dragon44]

Thanks to all the colleagues who make it possible for this beautiful world of pinball to continue. For me it is much more than a hobby, that is why I like to contribute by contributing a small grain of sand. Thanks friends.

[360heine]

A big thankyou to all the amazingly talented contributors and facilitators of this fantastic community. Your skills and dedication are so impressive and I would like you all to know the immense enjoyment you bring to my family. My children (and even my wife) would never have had the opportunity to develop a love for pinball if it wasn't for all of your amazing talents. I have learnt so much through building (and forever upgrading) my pincab.

I truly appreciate Virtual Pinball, but more so the amazing people that have made, and continue to make it  possible.

Sincere thanks, and best wishes in these challenging times.

Paul

[xenonph]

First off,

A huge thanks to ALL contributors to this community!!

From the table builders, to the forum helpers, and the program makers and maintainers, to the members who drove 1000's of miles just to get a chance to dump a rare rom or get pics of rare tables!!

To the members who take the time to help others with scripting, photo editting, sound editting, primitive building, or countless other specialty skills that make up this hobby.

To those who spend hours, days, weeks, months and years of their own free time contributing to this Pinball Community!!

Your work is appreciated!!

 

Now to tell you how I started working on tables...

 

I have been around the community for a very long time. (Since the old VPForums.)

I just never got involved in the forums. I like staying to myself, and minding my own business.

I was a pinball table leecher I guess you could say.

Well about 2015, I ran across a Whitewater Smurf Mod that JPSalas made.

Find here..

https://www.vpforums.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=6122

When I downloaded the zip file, and opened it, there was no table!! Just pics!!

I was like what the hell is this!! lol

Obviously this peaked my interest, so I figured out you had to download his regular Whitewater table and import the pics into it!!

As soon as I saw that smurf on that playfield, my eyes lit up, like I had hit a 20 mile long gold vein!!

My very next thought was "I wonder if I can make a Seahawks mod out of that NFL table?"

I was hooked at that point, and have had pinball dementia every since!!

My first table I am embarrassed to leave up for download, but I left it up, to remind me where I started.

You can find it here...(Don't laugh!! I had never editted a pic before then!!)

https://www.vpforums.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=11628

and here a pic of it...

 

I have learned so much since then thanks to the helpful members of this community!!

Here is my Seahawks table these days...(I will be trying to release these NEW team mods before superbowl!!)

 

Hopefully you can see a little improvement in my work.

All thanks to contributing members!!

This really is a special community, and is like no other. Period.

 

I then started to try and help others in this community with anything I could.

I am now an Administrator over at Pinball Nirvana.

I recently helped them sort their downloads, as when they switched to new server, alot of info was lost.

So I added table authors, IPD links, Prefix tags, regular tags, Instructions, and other helpful info to over 4,000 downloads.

I love helping this community!! And am damn proud to be a part of it!!

 

Just wanted to share that story with you all.

Thank you for your time.

Carry on.

 

Charles

 

PS:

I am sure I won't have the most likes on this post, but in the event that hell freezes over and I do, please give prize to next person in line.

I just wanted to share my story, and appreciation to all contributing members!!

 

Keep on Pinballin'

[davadruix]

Pinball, I've always been a fan. When I discovered the existence of pincabs a few years ago, I said to myself, this is what I need. At 48, childhood dreams can come true. I built my Pincab without any knowledge, leds, toys, DOF, I knew nothing about it! But I took up the challenge thanks to all of you, pincab enthusiasts, always ready to share info, tips, wiring diagrams, electronic card programming and much more programs and tables to make it alive and incredibly delirious this hobby! So thank you to all of you creators, authors, hosts, without whom our passion could not be so alive. Thank you all.

[Zedixair]

Well, Happy 1st of February to all of you, pinball lovers.

Thanks to all people involved in this passion / hobby : content creators, developers, table makers, people who help on forums, etc. YOU RULE !

I'm very thankful for all what you've done and for what will be done in the future to make this hobby alive.

Three years ago, I was a total noob and ignorant of what a pincab and virtual pinball could be, and now, thanks to all of you, I've made a wonderful personalized pincab with all the pinballs I loved and played when I was younger.

Nothing would have been possible without this incredible community.

Love from France.

 

[KrakenByte]

Cheers and applause! 🍻👏

 

[Wonkyone]

I’d like to add my appreciation to all the contributors to our fantastic hobby.

It’s not just the table developers but everyone associated whether it’s backglass, DMD underlays, altsound or wheel contributors.

Without their fantastic efforts our cabs would look unfinished. I wish I had the time, patience or ability to produce a contribution but it’s all a different language to me.

Thanks Guys, you’re the best.

[Anjiro76]

Just.. a rly big "thank you" to you all..
website/forum creators, admins/mods...
tables creators and modders
even ppls that make tables scans
programs and addons
and rly more..
this hobby can't go on without you all!

thanks again!

[th1001001]

Thank you for all your hard work. I love the old EM's from my childhood and and thankful that I have a chance to play them again

[leeoneil]

Thank you everyone involved in the creation of all the tools and all the tables we have in this community.

 

I discovered the world of pincab less than one year ago (at the end of february 2021).

First i wanted to buy a real pinball machine, but here in Europe the prices are totally insane.
Surfing on youtube, i discovered some home-made pincab... I was amazed by one vidéo in particular, showing "4K Tales of Arabian Nights" with DOF effects.

I was so impressed that i decided to try building a pincab on my own.

We have the chance in France to have a strong community, based in the "pincab passion" forum  : they helped me a lot, and i finally made it. Better than i expected.

After setting everything up, my first task was to find the TOTAN 4K table and play it.

Flupper1 thank you for this amazing work ! You were the first author I remembered !
I can't remember how many hours we played with your table. I've played it on every step on my pincab. Adding a light ? Test it with TOTAN ! Adding a knocker ? Test it with TOTAN ! .... 🤣

 

Since this first table, i discovered all the authors, all the people working on this crazy hobby.

In return of all this play time you gave me, I wanted to help the community. I started by doing some "wheel image" for pincab passion, but i wanted to be more implicated.
I contacted Arngrim in december 21, and he teached a little group of french people how to add DOF on EM tables. (thank you again Arngrim !!!!)

Since then (not a long time ago), we have doffed a pretty amount of tables. We started with JPSalas tables and Loserman76,  two pillars of the community (RIP Loserman...).
And there will be more to come.

 

Thank you everyone, please keep up the good work, your tables have been played a lot and a lot !

[rjclarkee]

Morning routine, opens works emails....close outlook forgets about work emails..........
makes a coffee.............opens VPU
get excited about new tables or updates and news..

lose track of time after coffee 2.....get shouted at by wifey

goback to work...spending all day dreaming about Vpin..

haha...thanks for your service to our hobby and everyone else that contributes

PLUR
pinball love unity Respect 
x

[rjclarkee]

7 hours ago, Rosieodonell said:

Funny thing,

 

Like all the rest of you i got caught in this thing called covid. Forced to work from home I was getting bored and my sanity was starting to crack a bit. I always wanted an acrade being a baby from the 80s, some of my best memories was playing arcade at the local town in shop.

But i was shocked to find a youtube video from Terryred and my eyes were blown right open. I knew i had to have something more than just a pinball and something more than just an arcade. I found myself pulling computer parts from all over the house, laying it on the floor in the shape of a table. Slowly i started to program and received so much pleasure each time i got a new table, puppack, etc to work. Once i felt i had enough to take the next step, I was able to make it a project with my father to build the actual cabinet from scratch. We spent many days working together, planning, sketching etc.. it was amazing to bond over this because we never had time when i was younger.

 

I know that it sounds cheesy but i don't think i could have gotten this far into the pandemic and kept my sanity etc... without all the great tables, videos, media that you guys all created and shared with the world. I will always be grateful and i am thankful to each and everyone of you!

Cheers!

Rosieodonell (Mike - from Kelowna, BC, Canada)

I think youll find youre not alone with that story dude..stay strong!! oh yeah and i cant get my dad off my vpin when he comes to visit, Roy Orbison/Beatles / Stones tables....he loves em

[brewmann74]

Great Hobby, Great Community and Great Contributors (past, present and future)!!! Much appreciation for all involved.