Warlok (Williams 1982)¶

MetaTed's first VLM toolkit table, built with mentoring from apophis79 and bord1947. Valuable as a documented learning path through common VLM pitfalls including playfield transparency from missing hole masks, flipper ghost images from static rendering on bakemaps, insert tray rendering below the playfield surface, and the discovery that OGG sound files break bass.dll pitch shifting.

Build Story¶

Warlok was a learning project for MetaTed, mentored by apophis79, bord1947, and others. The build thread is rich in step-by-step troubleshooting of VLM toolkit issues that first-time toolkit builders encounter. The table is a Williams System 7 solid-state machine from 1982.

Table-Specific Details¶

Art & Visuals¶

Playfield transparency from missing Hole Mask: VLM-baked playfield appearing semi-transparent is caused by the Hole Mask not being set correctly in the playfield shader. The Hole Mask is distinct from the Insert Mask -- if no Hole Mask is needed, set the input to 0 (not 1). Diagnosis: check the baked base map with a checkerboard background in an image viewer.
Flipper ghost images: Ghost flipper images appearing during gameplay but disappearing in Live Edit mode are caused by flipper bakemaps having "Static Rendering" checked. Both lightmaps AND bakemaps must have it unchecked. Live Edit renders everything as non-static, which is the diagnostic hint.
Insert trays not rendering below playfield: Requires layer separators placed just below the playfield surface. VLM playfield dimension inputs must match actual size (20.25" x 42" for Warlok). Verify "render group count" is 1, not 0.1.
Raytraced ball shadows GI light Z position: Must be approximately 28 VP units (near ball center height when resting on playfield, since ball radius is 25). Too low (-8) prevents shadows from casting.
VR segment display via VLM: Render each segment using a separate Blender camera pointed horizontally at the backbox. Each segment treated like a light in the toolkit. Produces much more realistic displays with proper depth and glow compared to flat flasher shapes.
Metal objects turning black: Metal shaders cannot be used for unwrap-baked objects in VLM. Use non-metallic shaders, adjusting appearance through roughness and color instead of metalness.
Blender mesh cleanup order: Always: (1) Merge by Distance, (2) Smooth Shading, (3) Reset Normals. Order matters -- wrong sequence leaves subtle artifacts.

Known Issues¶

OGG files break bass.dll: Sound effects stored as OGG cause silent failures -- sounds don't play or play incorrectly because bass.dll cannot perform pitch shifting on OGG. Convert all sounds from OGG to WAV. Manifests as intermittent missing sounds, making diagnosis difficult.

Techniques Developed Here¶

VLM segment display rendering via backbox camera for VR was developed here
Common VLM first-timer pitfalls (hole mask, static rendering, insert tray positioning) were systematically documented