I've made a modest collection of hints and tips for Visual Pinball/VPinMAME.
If you wanted my "real" pinball page, you wanted to go here
And sorry about naming the web page "Virtual Pinball" but it's stuck that way now :-)
Here is a list of all the general help and tips files for Visual Pinball and VPinMAME I've collected. This does NOT include help files for specific games, as those almost always arrive in the zip archive for the game itself. Similarly, I haven't included the installation guides and other help files which come bundled with VPinMAME and VisualPinball installation packages.
I've tried to include attributions when I knew the author. Apologies to all whose words I've copied without giving credit. Please email me with corrections, additions, organizational tips, etc.
Thanks
That might just be the most often asked question on here (at least about Gottlieb System 3 tables). The problem is you need to initialize the NVram in the operator menu before you can play it. Or you can just do a search for a post of already initialized NVRamp files that you can just copy into your NVRam directory.
To initialize the NVRam for any Gottlieb System 3 game you first press "7" to get to the game menu and then the left flipper key and then, "1" and "1" again to load the settings and then "1" again to select English. You can then just press F3 to reset the machine and it will play like any other VPM table.
Having no success opening the coin door in BBB... the "end" key doesn't seem to work. Can anyone help me? PacDude: Try "7" Press both flipper buttons at the same time to exit any given menu in Capcom systems. Press 1 to select something and use the flippers to move up and down the menus.
how can you change the 3 balls to 5 balls play? I tried in the ROM settings but I seem to see only audit menus.
Thanks to ta2686 for this:
I think it's the same for all DataEast games...like The Simpsons.
After reading the manual I have, then going into the table and looking at the F2 menu, here is how you change the number of balls:
1) Press 7. You should see in the first player display "PLAYBOY" and in the 4th player display "A02-4".
2) Press and hold 7 until you see "EXPAND ADJUSTS" in the first 2 player displays, "Ad 19" in the third player display, and "OFF" in the 4th player display.
(NOTE: If you pass this while scrolling through, press and hold the 8 key while pressing the 7 key to go back)
3) Press the 1 key to change from OFF to ON.
4) Press 7 - you will see for a few seconds the words "REQUEST INSTALLED" in the first 2 player displays, then the first expanded adjustment will appear.
5) Press 7 a total of 3 times to see "BALLS/ GAME" displayed in the first 2 player displays, "E Ad 23" in the third player display, and 03 in the fourth player display.
6) Press 1 to change the number of balls in play. This number can be from 2 to 9. (NOTE: If you need to set the number lower, or you pass the number you want, press and hold the 8 key while pressing the 1 key).
7) When you have set the number of balls you want, press the 7 key. You should see for a few seconds the words "REQUEST INSTALLED" and then the next adjustment should appear.
8) Press and hold the 7 key to scroll through the remaining adjustments until the displays go blank. The table will then reset and save your changes.
On Williams and Bally DMD tables, hit the END key on your keyboard. You should get the clang and DMD warning "coin door open." Use 8 and 9 (not on keypad) keys to adjust overall audio level. Hit END again when done to close coin door and resume play.
The overall sound level can be adjusted in the VisualPinball editor window, under Settings.
Click on the DMD and use the "~" to access sound settings (most games). Use the left/right arrow keys to move thru the various sound samples, and the up/down to adjust the volume settings. Hit ~ again to resume play.
If you're more adventurous, use SoundManager or other audio tools to modify the sound samples themselves.
Again thanks to ta2686 for this info. He says it may work for Gottlieb as well but hasn't tried it out.
To do so, for this type of table, you need to set the score manually, since the rules are in the ROM and not the script, and save it to the nvram. To do this you need to do the following:
1) When you first load the table (hitting F5 or clicking the play button in VP), or at the end of a game, press the 7 key (not the 7 on the numeric keypad but the 7 above the "u" key on the keyboard) about 6 or 7 times until you see a 01 in the match/ball in play display.
2) press and hold the 1 key (again, not the 1 on the numeric keyapd but the 1 above the "q" key on the keyboard) until you get to the score you want to set it to. The score will increment by 10,000 points in the score display.
3) press 7 to see 02 in the match display.
4) repeat step 2 to set the second replay level.
5) press 7 again to see 03 in the match display
5) repeat step 2 to set the third replay level (if you so desire)
6) press 7 again to see 04 in the match display
7) repeat step 2 to set the high score to date
8) either repeat pressing 7 to scroll through the remainder of the settings untill displays go blank (which will reset the machine and store your changes) or press F3 to reset and save your changes.
All of the early Bally SS machines (1977 through 1985 with the exception of Eight Ball Champ and Beat the Clock) use this method to set replay levels and high scores.
small addition:
in test mode
to increase value: press "1" key (HOLD for repeating increments)
to reset value to zero: press "5"
to decrease value: press and HOLD "1". Press test key. value decreases. Release test key. Now relase "1" key.
To disable replay levels 1,2, or 3: set associated value to zero