Time Fantasy¶

A VLM conversion project focused on a weathered aesthetic, with development centered on insert rendering, layer separator behavior, and baked lighting techniques.

3D & Art¶

Weathered Table Aesthetic¶

The Time Fantasy project explored a weathered, worn-in look using several layering techniques (contributed by mcarter78 and tomate80):

Imperfection PBR textures from ambientcg.com (under "Imperfections") used as overlays for grime and wear
Procedural noise applied to plastic and rubber surfaces -- wave texture works well for rubber smears
AO gunk on posts to simulate dirt accumulation
Scratches preserved in insert mask to retain real damage appearance

Warning

Procedural dirt can render unpredictably. Always test at low resolution first before committing to a full bake.

An advanced concept discussed was tracking games played and progressively degrading table visuals and physics over time. Reference tables for progressive wear effects include Hauntfreaks' CARtoons (faulty GI, coil whine), BorgDog's Gemini, and SF2.

Wood Mask vs Hole Mask¶

A recurring point of confusion in VLM work (discussed by apophis79, tomate80, cyberpez, and mechaenron):

Wood mask: Originally used for procedural wood texture show-through. Not actually needed if using real geometry holes.
Hole mask: Defines alpha holes in the playfield surface.
Layer separator: Needed below the playfield surface for insert transparency in some setups, but not in others. Newer toolkit versions and VPX 10.8 may not require it.

Whether a layer separator is needed depends on the playfield material setup method. Check if your setup works in Blender rendering mode first before adding one.

Flupper 3D Inserts with Off-Insert Prims¶

A modified Flupper insert technique (mcarter78, tomate80):

Bake target uses spoked geometry
Surface prim uses a clear insert image (not spoked)
Creates a noticeable depth improvement when the insert is off
Adjust prim translucency to taste
Works especially well for segmented inserts (numbers, letters)

Troubleshooting¶

Inserts Baking to Playfield Surface¶

When inserts bake to the playfield surface instead of the cups (apophis79, tomate80, mcarter78):

Add a layer separator just below the playfield surface (between PF and inserts)
Ensure the layer separator does not intersect insert geometry -- this creates artifacts
Verify it works in Blender viewport rendering first
Check indirect light clamping in render settings (must not be zero)
Adjust PF and GI lightmap depth bias together when fixing

Tip

Insert cups should be shallow for VR -- deep cups look wrong. Remove top faces, flip normals blue-up. Cups that are too deep cause the insert to appear at the top surface of the cup instead of the bottom.

Indirect Light Clamping Zeroed Out¶

If renders show extreme overexposure with no light in inserts or posts, the cause is likely indirect light clamping set to zero in render settings (mcarter78). The proper value is typically 1.0 or higher. Zero means no clamping, which causes fireflies and overexposure everywhere.

Tilt Breaks Game¶

Tilting the table causes a complete game break. Check tilt handling code for errors -- likely an issue with tilt relay logic or a script error in the tilt sub (apophis79, mcarter78).

Ball Physics Over Playfield Holes¶

Balls escaping through holes or behaving erratically over certain areas need roof/ceiling primitives placed over problem spots. The F12 menu has an option to remove the center post if it causes ball-catching issues. Always verify whether a feature exists on the real machine before implementing workarounds (apophis79, mcarter78).

Best Practices¶

Low-Res Proxy Baking Workflow¶

Use 4K with AI upsampling at 4x4 (benji084). Each baked image takes only 2-3 minutes at low resolution, enabling full-scale debugging without long render times. Set up compositing project files at 4K, then swap in high-quality renders when ready. This is analogous to editing with proxy footage -- low quality but full scale for checking everything.