[New VP10 Alert] Strikes N' Spares (Premier/Gottlieb 1995)

[CactusDude]

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Strikes N' Spares (Premier/Gottlieb 1995)

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Here's a VPX conversion of Premier/Gottlieb's Strikes N' Spares table from 1995. (Not to be confused with Bally's "Strikes and Spares" from 1978).
 
I saw a picture of a real table online and thought it looked cool. When I tried to find a VPX version online, I hit a dead end. There appears to have been one at some point, but it was probably lost in the VPinball shutdown. However, I did find mfuegemann's VP9 version, so I decided to try converting that to VPX. It's far from perfect, but it was a fun challenge and I wanted to share the end result.
 
Huge thanks to mfuegemann and zany for their work on the VP9 version and mfuegemann's permission to post my conversion. There's no way I could've made this table without their prior work - especially zany's 3D models and mfuegemann's playfield redraw.
 

I've included an NVRAM file and some tips to fix common issues in the download zip. Please be sure to consult that before posting in the support thread because you might be able to answer your own question. There's also a Tarcisio style wheel in there.
 

Like most VPX tables, I haven't had the chance to play a real version of the table, so hopefully, I got the game working correctly. I'm sure it could also look even better if someone improved my lighting, etc. PLEASE get in touch if you're interested in modding the table. I want to make sure we're on the same page concerning a few things.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

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• Submitter
  CactusDude
• Submitted
  02/07/2022
• Category
  VPX - Pinball Tables

 

[gossman]

I have the lag issue with this game that gets worse as the game progresses to the point the table is unplayable by the 8th frame.

[barryodog]

I had same prob. I left the install the same except i del vpx10 table and run the vp9 table works great, no lagg!

[CactusDude]

I finally got it to happen on my set-up by playing multiple games in a row. I tried tweaking the timers (deleting some, adjusting the duration on others, making sure they're disabled in the code at the proper time). I also tried simplifying the ball return. None of that seemed to help, so I'm back to giving up. If anyone makes an edit that fixes it, please let me know and I can update the download. Unless that happens, I can't help. I don't really have the time to go chasing ghosts, especially when I'm usually content to play a single game on this table before I jump over to one of the other hundreds of VPX tables I have to play.

 

Basically, sorry to anyone experiencing issues they consider detrimental to the table. But I just can't help.

[barryodog]

On 5/4/2022 at 8:58 PM, CactusDude said:

I finally got it to happen on my set-up by playing multiple games in a row. I tried tweaking the timers (deleting some, adjusting the duration on others, making sure they're disabled in the code at the proper time). I also tried simplifying the ball return. None of that seemed to help, so I'm back to giving up. If anyone makes an edit that fixes it, please let me know and I can update the download. Unless that happens, I can't help. I don't really have the time to go chasing ghosts, especially when I'm usually content to play a single game on this table before I jump over to one of the other hundreds of VPX tables I have to play.

 

Basically, sorry to anyone experiencing issues they consider detrimental to the table. But I just can't help.

I ended up deleting the 10.7 table and used the alt launcher in pinup to vp9 table we play for hours multible players not one sign of lagg

[WahreezMcDermot]

You can tell from monitoring the game with F11 that the physics calculations are what is killing the performance. That being said I don't have the ability to fix it.

 

When the game starts physics calculations take around 20% of the processing at most. By the time you're into a second frame they can be up near 100% which obviously leaves no time for anything else.

 

I did notice that you even if you let every ball past the flippers and as a result there is no interaction with the pins the issue still occurs. It may have something to do with the way VPX handles physics.

 

Even when the balls come down the 'lanes' at the very beginning physics numbers jump up briefly, but basically every time that happens they increase until it becomes unplayable. It seems like the best fix is indeed what barryodog suggested which is using the VP9 table and launching it with a different exe.

[jestermgee]

I'd love to test this one out but for some reason the backglass does not launch when I load the table (yes it is named the same as the table) and the DMD seems to not be correct (likely need the DMD with the backglass but I tried 3 different BG that are available and none launch)
Next issue as mentioned above, there are no table sounds such as ball roll. I have seen a YT vid of this table that has all the correct sounds so not sure on this one. 

 

 

[lolzilla]

I also have the degraded performance over time on VP 10.8. It started dropping frames really quick right after the first shot and they never went back. Then I set the "Maximum Framerate" to 0 and it keep dropping frames after a shot but it came back to the maximum framerate once the balls were back on the queue. Still, the more I played, the more the framerate degraded. So I changed line 376 "if LoopCount2 >= 8 then" to "if LoopCount2 >= 4 then" and now only 4 balls appear on the field, 2 on each side but the framerate degrades way slower and I can play a couple of tournaments before the framerate gets bad. I also commented out line 263 'FillSpares to get rid of the 6 extra balls that do nothing just in case.

 

You can change the  line to  "if LoopCount2 >= 2 then" to get even more stable framerates for longer but the game gets a bit slow while you wait for the balls to come back to the craddle.

 

I hope someone fixes this table properly, it's a simple yet fun table. I can't stop playing it

 

[Schlabber34]

Same here. I'm really bad in scripting, but could it be possible that returning balls get "created" and add up to the amount of balls because used balls are not "destroyed"? If i remember it right you can make the console show the amount of balls on (under, behind, somewhere....) the running table. There must be a number that is piling up.