goyaume Posted September 14, 2022 Posted September 14, 2022 Hi Guys ! Well, first post here, so let me introduce myself : i'm goyaume a 28 years old french programmer and pinball lover. I love pinball since i was a kid (thanks dad !), and now i'm enjoying playing on Visual Pinball thanks to the VP community ! I mainly play on desktop, i don't own a pincab and i don't want to buy one (I prefer real Pinball, i'm the owner of a Gottlieb/Premier Hot Shots). So i was thinking about coding a small windows app that act like a small front-end, called VPLauncher. Then discussed about it with some friends who wants to try Visual Pinball, but getting tables and roms are quiet annoying. So i've told them, ok, let's try to code something like a store where you can download everything you need to play a table. Then i've decided, if I share it with friends, I rather share it to the rest of the world, currently everything is in developpement, only the code to run a table and small parts of the interface are running. So what's the roadmap ? Version 1 : Windows Desktop only application List installed tables Download tables (i'll host a server with tables and roms) Update tables (if any) Tables request News feed (to let user know about new tables) Access to the app will require registration (simple mail/password/username/3 letters name). Why you should register ? Everything will be explained in version 2 ! Currently i don't have any ETA about this version since it's a side project, and i have a job (as a developper) Version 2 : This is what i call the killer feature (yeah because it's the only interesting part of using the launcher): after each session (started and exited a table), the launcher will upload the nvram PinMAME file to the server that will read it and parse score (i have to do some R&D fo this, it will take a long time, but here we go !) and then will manage an online Scoreboard ! Cool right ? Well that's enough for today I think ! The Windows app will be open-sourced as it will be released, for the server part, i'm still thinking about keeping it private or makes it open source. If you find this interesting, feel free to express yourself ! Want a feature : tell me ! Found a better name that VPLauncher : i hear your suggestions (yeah i think VPLauncher sucks as a name). Can't wait to read your feedback about this !
Administrators Wildman Posted September 14, 2022 Administrators Posted September 14, 2022 Quote : Download tables (i'll host a server with tables and roms) That might be a issue with alot of people, Im sure they will chime in when they read this.... where will these said tables and roms come from? and are you going to provide support for them? Or are you just going to take everything from the major sites and post it to your own? and package it so people can just download everything at once? You might want to rethink that part of the idea ... If you been around the community for a while then you should know already that stuff like that is highly frowned upon
freezy Posted September 14, 2022 Posted September 14, 2022 I don't think you'll get a lot of positive feedback about this. The simple reason is that creators seek exchange with the community about their creations, and by bypassing a platform like VPU, you'll be taking that away. If you're a programmer, why not put your time into something innovative? Something like that for example.
Richie Posted September 15, 2022 Posted September 15, 2022 Not a good ideal many of us here frown on having tables posted elsewhere for download where creators did not upload them plus it takes the fun out of getting everything working and seeing what the creators of these tables are saying and doing here or on VPforums.
bord Posted September 15, 2022 Posted September 15, 2022 This kind of thing drove away countless active content creators. Don't do it.
World-of-Virtual-pinball Posted September 15, 2022 Posted September 15, 2022 Agree this is wrong. There is already one available from a certain Australian cab builder which I think is wrong.
Richie Posted September 15, 2022 Posted September 15, 2022 I think he meant well but didn't know how pationate most of us are about preserving the vp community and doesn't realize if the authors of these great tables leave or stop posting tables because of things like this the vp community would fall apart.
gezortenplotz Posted September 15, 2022 Posted September 15, 2022 Not the way this community works ... just very wrong.
PastorLUL Posted September 15, 2022 Posted September 15, 2022 Creating something like this would be real nice, but its kind of a taboo sadly. Many people are being gatekept from using vpx because of how complex it is for them to setup. Now, the @VPinWorkshop guys could actually create something like this, they have created/modded over 30 tables by now! It would open a lot of doors and introduce many more to the community ^^ .
Content Provider Wylte Posted September 16, 2022 Content Provider Posted September 16, 2022 52 minutes ago, PastorLUL said: Creating something like this would be real nice, but its kind of a taboo sadly. Many people are being gatekept from using vpx because of how complex it is for them to setup. Now, the @VPinWorkshop guys could actually create something like this, they have created/modded over 30 tables by now! It would open a lot of doors and introduce many more to the community ^^ . Could, but I don't think it's gatekeeping to keep everything in the community, and it's super easy to install using the VPX all-in-one or Baller.
ashleyb Posted September 16, 2022 Posted September 16, 2022 Your intentions sound honourable, but don’t do this, the content creators want reviews and feedback on sites like this. Plus this has already been done for monetary gain by that idiot at Retroplay who builds cabs and sells them preloaded with tables. He then offers his customers access to a site that works in a similar way to what you’ve outlined. Put your skills to better use and see if you can help freezy with VPE. But definitely don’t proceed with this project, not good for the community.
PastorLUL Posted September 16, 2022 Posted September 16, 2022 9 hours ago, Wylte said: Could, but I don't think it's gatekeeping to keep everything in the community, and it's super easy to install using the VPX all-in-one or Baller. I agree of course, but for instance my dad, he barely knows how to open a file and possibly adjust something. Let's just say its not his area of expertise. Obviously there are many more people like that, those people are the ones who cant be asked and buy the FX3 tables instead.
goyaume Posted September 26, 2022 Author Posted September 26, 2022 Ok Guys ! So i heard your thought about this. Let's be clear, my goal isn't to earn money or to steal the work of creators and kill the community it's not at all the Goal. I have been a user of Visual pinball since version 6 or 7 i can't remember exactly. In my free time i contribute to open-source projets so I know values about the community. It has been clear in my head since the begining each tables in the Store will offer a link to the community from where it cames from and the Creator is credited. The main goal is not to hide the community, just offer it an easy access to pinball lovers. Currently i'm working on it alone without any ETA, and the only tester that i have is my father (who don't know much about VPinball), he installed Vpinball with PinupBaller followed the instructions then installed my software and he was like "Wow it's super easy and it works". I know everything about community values, but guys, think about it, i don't want to kill the community and hide the work of creators behind a piece of software, i just want more people to discover the Virtual Pinball universe. And one of my thought was "how can i put in light creators". At the moment the software will be reserved for me and my father as the community doesn't look very opened to this kind of project. Just some screenshots of the dev version :
Tikimaster Posted September 26, 2022 Posted September 26, 2022 The Idea you have is very nice. No question. But nobody in the scene will like the idea of hosting their files. You need to find another solution for this. Maybe you can provide the dl links to the main forumpages needed, I don´t know. A server for score exchanges sounds very nice. It wouldn't be a real contest because people can manipulate a table file. But some people would certainly like a competition among friends. I think an independent add-on with an open-source server would have its fans, no question.
bord Posted September 27, 2022 Posted September 27, 2022 19 hours ago, goyaume said: Let's be clear, my goal isn't to earn money or to steal the work of creators and kill the community it's not at all the Goal. I know everything about community values, but As soon as you're hosting and redistributing content without the contributors' involvement you are definitely - in your words - "stealing the work of creators and killing the community". You are clearly unaware of how many contributors have quit in the last 3 years exactly because of stupid stuff like this. Just knock it off.
makmak Posted September 28, 2022 Posted September 28, 2022 On 9/27/2022 at 12:55 AM, Retsamikit said: A server for score exchanges sounds very nice. It wouldn't be a real contest because people can manipulate a table file. But some people would certainly like a competition among friends. I think an independent add-on with an open-source server would have its fans, no question. There are at least two 'solutions' already available, one by scottywic and 'pinemhi'...
Tikimaster Posted September 28, 2022 Posted September 28, 2022 I'm glad someone built a third table back then, even though there were already two. That part does not touch any rights, let him go... 😉
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