Big Bang Bar¶

VPW build of Capcom's 1996 Big Bang Bar, notable for its blacklight mode implementation, Capcom emulation requirements, and extensive toolkit lightmapping. The project required 64-bit VPX and VPinMAME from the start due to Capcom driver limitations. Development spanned 2023 through 2024 with contributions from gedankekojote97, apophis79, rawd, leojreimroc, clarkkent9917, jsm174, toxie, and niwak.

Build Notes¶

VPinMAME 64-bit Requirement for Capcom Tables¶

BBB almost certainly requires VPX 64-bit. Users must update VPinMAME to the latest 64-bit beta version. The most common crash on startup is an outdated VPinMAME. Do NOT confuse PinMAME (the emulator core) with VPinMAME (the VPX bridge) -- they are separate components. Must run Setup64.exe to properly install VPinMAME.

Common User Error

Installing PinMAME but not VPinMAME causes the table to start with ROM sounds but nothing works. Run Setup64.exe to register VPinMAME DLLs.

64-bit Migration¶

No need to uninstall 32-bit VPX. Rename vpinballx.exe files to keep multiple versions (e.g., vpinball10.8.0_863_64bit.exe). B2S Server v2.0+ works with both 32 and 64-bit.

Capcom Emulation Improvements (PinMAME 3.6)¶

niwak's work on the PinMAME Capcom driver improved lamp/flasher fidelity: slow fades, quick flashes, and fade-and-blink simultaneously. Some DMD animations had wrong timings, now corrected. Requires latest VPX master and latest VPinMAME master builds.

Drop Target Mass Tuning¶

Default drop target mass was too low (ball passed right through). Tested values: 0.4 was more physical, 0.6 was the sweet spot for satisfying gameplay.

nFozzy Corrections on Vertical Flippers¶

The upper right flipper does not have nFozzy corrections applied because it is too vertical. nFozzy corrections were designed for standard flipper angles. Vertical flipper correction support was under consideration but not yet available.

Pop Bumper Radius Calibration¶

Pop bumper radius in VPX is NOT the hat size -- it is the metal ring/bumper zone size. Oversized radius (e.g., 43) causes the ball to stay trapped in bumpers for extended periods. BBB reduced from 43 to 38. Ball getting trapped in pops for 20+ seconds indicates the radius is too large.

Competition NVRAM¶

A factory-default NVRAM file with extra ball buy-ins disabled was created for competition play. BBB's ROM (bbb109, a beta) has some quirks including extra ball buy-in that cannot be toggled via settings. Bundled with release.

Ramp Entrance Flap¶

Every real pinball ramp has a metal entrance flap. BBB was missing this on the plastic main ramp. Added in the v2.0 update cycle, requiring a full 12-hour bake run.

Version History¶

v1.0 (Mar 2023): Initial release, VPX 10.7.3 64-bit
v1.0.2: New 4K batch, removed Lampz in favor of vpmMapLights, added Tweak options menu
v1.0.4: Improved tube ramp material, fixed LMod effect
v2.0 (Apr 2024): Major overhaul -- updated toolkit, new drop targets, materials, dynamic shadows, replaced VRBG flasher code with control light links
v2.1 (Apr 2024): VR fixes, lighting balance

Scripting¶

RoomBrightness Script Option¶

Table brightness is adjustable via RoomBrightness variable in the user options section of the script. Lower values create a moodier atmosphere where the lightshow is more visible.

Ball Brightness Variation System¶

BBB includes a ballbrightness script constant that dynamically varies ball brightness based on table lighting conditions. This can override custom ball images, making them look dull. An option was added to disable ball brightness variations for users who prefer their own ball image/scratch settings.

Color DMD Option¶

Set color DMD option to 1 in the script for colored DMD display. VPinMAME settings may be overwritten by the script. Lucky1's color files are compatible with 64-bit setup -- install on top of Freezy's x64.

3D & Art¶

RGB VR Room with Baked Lighting¶

rawd's RGB VR room uses the toolkit lighting technique: every room object is duplicated and baked with light-on and light-off textures in Blender. A single white light texture is baked, then VPX manipulates its color and opacity via script. Room brightness ties to the table brightness setting in real-time. Total room size under 50MB. Includes an Ultra-Minimal room option for lower-end PCs.

Blacklight Color -- Blue vs Purple/Pink¶

Real blacklight tubes appear hot pink/purple in person but photograph as deep purple/blue. Photos are misleading. Decision: went with more blue to match the in-game blacklight bulb and to preserve the green cabinet artwork colors that would wash out under pink light. The RGB room color, table LUT, and topper bulb color all need to be coordinated.

LUT Swaps for Blacklight Mode¶

BBB uses LUT (Look-Up Table) swaps for the blacklight mode rather than rendering separate blacklight textures. This keeps performance manageable since many parts glow under blacklight and rendering all as separate emission meshes would be a performance issue.

Emission Mesh Baking Problem¶

The Blender toolkit bakes meshes with emission materials into the playfield, causing unwanted light patches (e.g., blacklight tube reflection, glowing arrows baked onto the PF surface). Fix: make a separate collection with the affected meshes, enter edit mode, remove the unwanted reflection parts from the bake result, then re-nest.

Tube Ramp Transparency¶

The tube ramp needed to be less transparent and more translucent (like the tube dancer cylinder cap). The reflection at the cut end of the tube was unnatural. Fixed in v1.0.4 bake with improved tube ramp material.

VPX Material Tip -- Avoid Pure Black¶

VPX uses perfect black (#000000) as a mask in some rendering contexts. Drop targets and other objects can look "dead" with pure black backgrounds. Fix: change black to near-black (#010101) to avoid the masking behavior while keeping a dark appearance.

Lightmap Brightness Tuning¶

v2.0 was considered properly balanced. v2.0.1 made all lightmaps 30% brighter which was too much (tube appeared to emit rather than transmit light). Reverted in v2.0.2. Lesson: compare screenshots across versions before adjusting global brightness.

Troubleshooting¶

False Positive Virus Detection (Wacatac)¶

The BBB release zip was flagged as Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.B!ml by some antivirus software. This is a common false positive for VPX files. Verified clean via VirusTotal (0 threats). Cannot sign VPX files to prevent this. Solution: submit to Microsoft for analysis and/or use VirusTotal for verification.

GI Blue Stutter¶

Some frame stuttering occurs when GI changes to blue (blacklight mode transition). Performance sensitive due to the complex lighting setup.

Unshaded Additive Blend Causing VR Artifacts¶

VR display artifacts resolved by unchecking "Unshaded Additive Blend" under primitives in the CabLit Layer. Originally filed as a VPX GitHub issue but was actually a table-side fix.

Table Locked -- No Live Editor¶

BBB v2.0 shipped locked, which hides the live editor in VPX 10.8. This is intentional -- locked tables only show play/pause and preferences in the live editor. Unlock the table to access the full live editor.

VR Reflections Performance¶

Reflections in VR require setting the table-specific reflection option to "Dynamic" with strength at 100 in table properties. Causes stuttering on some systems. Left off by default. VR supersampling may need to be reduced from 1.6 to 1.0-1.3 for this table.

64-bit Crash -- Divide by Zero¶

VPX 64-bit crash with EXCEPTION_INT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO. Fix: update to VPinMAME 3.6 beta which contained a specific Capcom crash fix by Toxie.

Game Knowledge¶

Gameplay Tips¶

The tube dancer ramp shot: hitting the target left of the ramp entrance triggers "a little more to the right," the opposite side triggers "a little more to the left." Not making it up the ramp triggers "harder!" The underground extra ball target is meant to be hit by the upper right flipper -- nearly impossible with the left flipper. This matches real machine behavior.

SSF Quality¶

SSF vibration feedback described as "top notch" -- slingshot and pop bumper sounds particularly praised.

Resources¶

VPUniverse release: https://vpuniverse.com/files/file/13634-big-bang-bar-capcom-1996-vpw/
Promo trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suy1UqgN79E