Fifth Release v5.0 2-8-2008 This is a quick update of the 4.0 VP table, to turn it into a VPM table, using the new Sys1 emulation. You need the 1.58 version of VPM and the latest VBS files. Now that it is emulated, I will eventually get around to a graphics update. There are a lot of sloppy aligned reels on this one, as it was made before I figured out how to do it properly. ****** Fourth Release v4.0 11-27-2004 Completly re-rendered, from a closer angle so the table fills more of the screen. The entire table is reeled, so on startup, and if you tilt, the whole table is dark, Then the GI and the playfield lights come on. Since reels render walls and spinners invisible, I had to make both the spinner and the drop target bank, animated and rendered reels. I added the proportional and animated plunger to this table. Just use the down arrow to pull back. Press Enter to plunge the ball. You can use the up arrow key to back off of your pull also. Also because the whole table is reeled, the table size is much larger (8 megs). So I split the script from the table. If I need to fix something in the script, you'll be able to download just the script. Make sure the script is in the same folder as the table. Fixed some details of the table thanks to Roddy Rodmaker, who ownes a real CE3K machine. He sent me scans of both sides of the spinner, and informed me about the red/blue stripes on the upper fixed targets. Thanks, Rod! There is a setting in the adjustments for regular table, and special edition. The regular real life CE3K has no attract mode lights, and this version is no exception. But if you want to jazz it up a bit, use the 'special editon' setting. This gives you attract mode lighting, and some different sound effects. ******** Third Release v3.2 5-30-2002 Well, because of the great many people having problems with the black lines between decals, I decided to try it with one BIG decal. It worked, but with 1 small problem. Because I used VP lights for the score, and VP seems to take forever to render lights through a large decal,(almost 2 min on my machine), I had to come up with another way of doing the score. So now I'm useing reels for the score, credit and ball display. One would have thought this a simple solution, but it wasn't as easy as it would appear. Because on of the natural stated for those segment displays is all segments off, I couldnt use a six digit reel, and use the addvalue comand. The strip of display images consisted of 11 images, one all off, and 0-0. I'd have to come up with some wierd base 11 math to make that work. So what I did was use 1 reel for each digit, I do the math seperatly, and just use the setvalue command to display the correct digit. Works supprisingly well, and the code is actually pretty small and simple as well...BONUS! The load time is 5 seconds on my machine, and no black lines in any res! Pluse the table size is smaller cause I got rid of the 8 large decal pictures. Anyway, I'll be releasing my code and the strip images I made, so that those of you making Gottlieb solid state machines can use it. I'll see if I can include a Green display for Haunted House....:) ***** Second Release v3.0 5-15-2002 Did a complete graphics re-work,another full table render. The pop bumpers are rendered, and animated with reels. The Rototarget now has the correct values on it, (I have the manual now!), and the Roto target images have been placed on the SIDES of the animation walls, unlike the tops in the previous version. This table has a fairly complete menu and adjustment system. A lot of changes happen when you switch from 3 to 5 balls, as per the real machine. The rules display changes depending on your balls per game setting. I am also keeping 2 seperate high scores, on for 3 ball, one for 5 ball. I have also added the real Gottlieb Sys 1 sounds to this table. They are kinda boring compared to the Special Edition sounds I created for the original release, but I have put a menu option to select between the 2 modes. A few of the adjustment options are toggles. each time you select them they change between the 2 states. You can also manually set both high scores and the 3 replay levels. You can also set the game to award extra balls or replays (except high score, which always awards replays). The game also loads faster than the original. I originally thought slow loading times were caused by the use of large decals, but this is not the case. Loading times are long when actual VP lights have to be rendered through decals. All of the table lights in this game are droppable walls, so that wasn't an issue. But the score, credit and ball displays were lights, and originally, the loading time was about 45 seconds on my machine. So in troubleshooting, I moved the display lights off of the background, and the table loaded in 7 seconds! I originally had the score lights showing through transparent boxes in the decals, so instead I cut the decals around the lights to make an actual space with No decal coverage, and moved my lights into them. Long story short, the table loads in 7 seconds on my machine, and all is right with the world! :) ***** First Release v2.3 9-16-2001 Well, this was a bit of fun. The game itself is very simple. I used decals heavilly, to get the nifty dark table lighting effects. The table base graphics are decals (broken into 8 parts to make loading quicker, time went from 1 min 22 sec to 33 sec!). The posts rubbers and plastics also are on one largish decal. The Post and rubbers were also created and rendered in Truespace 5. I also rendered a custom ball picture in Truespace 5. This allowed me to put the reflecion of the actual table into the ball, and adjust the lighting on the ball so it appears to be comming from low and on both sides, as it would on a 'dark' table. The roto-targets took a bit of work. I created a 3d roto-target in Truespace 5 (a 3d modeling and rendering program). I settled on a table angle, then I animated the 3d file(40 frames). I then passed each frame through photoshop, using guides do distort each frame so that it would look correct when drawn on top of a short wall in the proper position on the playfield. And that meant 40 identical droppable walls! Next came the coding to make the animation work, and the roto values. When the roto-target is triggered a random number from 1 to 40 is chosen and the code ensures that the wheel stops on the nearest target to that frame number. Anyway, it works great. As for the sounds, the roto-target sound is a modified one-armed bandit sound. (Pitch is raised). The electronic chimes were synthisized with reference to the original 5 tone theme in Close Encounters, the film. The original table had only 3 tones, the 10, 100, and 1000 point electronic chimes. The only liberty I took was to add the other 2 tones so that the 5 note theme could be played for a special, or at the start of the game. Thanks to Spike for the real score display routine, which I modified for my own evil joy. :) Thanks go to Alexandru Cobzas ,Brian Smith aka Destruk, and everyone else for their input! Enjoy Close Encounters of the Third Kind! Kurt Herman kurt@scapinosvpins.com