I couldn't find easy to follow instructions for setting up Visual Pinball X with VPinMAME, so I created one. I've tested these instructions using Windows 11. With these settings, I can run any VPX game at full speed at 2560x1440 resolution on my i9-9900K CPU with a GTX1050Ti video card.
Note that these instructions are for Windows.
Install both of these, if they aren't already installed. This is so that the correct 64-bit versions of the DLL are on the system. Otherwise it tries to load the 32-bit versions of xinput1_3.dll and d3dx9_43.dll that's in the Visual Pinball directory placed by the VPX 10.7.2 installer and then just crash.
Visual Studio 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64)
- Choose "X64", download link
- Run the installer, extracting files to C:\TEMP, then open C:\TEMP and run "DXSETUP.exe" to install.
Create a folder for the installation, e.g. c:\Visual Pinball
Download the Visual Pinball Update Checker to that folder
- Download command:
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milnak/vpx_launcher/refs/heads/main/UpdateCheck.ps1' -OutFile 'C:\Visual Pinball\UpdateCheck.ps1'
Run it. It will provide links to the latest "Visual Pinball X", "Visual PinMAME" and "dmd-extensions" to download and where to extract them to.
See VPX Launcher instructions for installation and use.
- Download command:
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milnak/vpx_launcher/refs/heads/main/vpx_launcher.ps1' -OutFile 'C:\Visual Pinball\vpx_launcher.ps1'
Run VPinballX64.exe (in C:\Visual Pinball folder).
Press "Cancel" on the "Select a Table" dialog that shows.
Click OK
Choose Preferences > Video/Graphics Options...
Render Options page:
- Click "Reset to Defaults", then "Set for High End PC".
- If you have a slower video card) Under Anti-Aliasing, set "Post-Processed AA" and "Sharpen" to Disabled.
Playfield View page:
- Choose monitor native resolution, color depth AND refresh rate, e.g. "2560 x 1440 (59Hz 16:9)"
- Exclusive full screen
Click "Save Changes" then "Close".
Preferences > Scripting Security Options...
- Always create controls
Click "OK"
Close Visual Pinball.
Clear previous settings by running:
reg.exe DELETE 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Freeware\Visual PinMame' /F
Run setup64.exe (in C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME folder).
Click: Install, Yes. OK, OK, OK.
Set:
- Skip Pinball Startup Test
- Cabinet Mode
- Show DMD/Display window
Click: OK, OK, Quit
Download Champion Pub (Williams 1998) and copy "Champion Pub (Williams 1998) v1.43.vpx" to C:\Visual Pinball\Tables.
Run VPinballX64.exe and open "Champion Pub (Williams 1998) v1.43.vpx".
This should fail indicating "Champion Pub, the (1.6)" (cp_16) ROMs are missing.
To fix, download Champion Pub (1.6) - ROM - cp_16.zip and copy (not extract) the ZIP file to C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\roms - create this folder if it doesn't exist.
The next time you start the table, it should work fine.
If the table doesn't start, try clicking one table on the table with the mouse.
You can move the DMD (digital display) and then save its position by right clicking it and choosing "save position globally".
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| Left Shift | Left Flipper |
| Right Shift | Right Flipper |
| Left Ctrl | Left Magna Save |
| ? | Right Magna Save |
| Enter | Launch Ball |
| 1 | Start Button |
| 5 | Insert Coin 1 |
| 4 | Insert Coin 2 |
| Q | Exit Game |
| T | Mechanical Tilt |
| Z | Nudge from Left |
| / | Nudge from Right |
| Space | Nudge forward |
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| F1 | Game options... |
| F2 | Keyboard settings... |
| F3 | Reset emulation |
| F4 | Toggle Display lock |
| F5 | Toggle Display size |
| F6 | Show DIP Switch / Option Menu |
| B | Add / Remove Ball From Table |
| T | Bang Back |
VPM Restart: If you see "Factory settings restored - bookkeeping totals cleared" message on a machine, press the "VPM Restart" (F3) key to get the machine ready to accept coins.
These instructions were found on vpforums.
- Using the 9 and 0 (zero) keys, adjust the volume. The 0 key lowers the volume, the 9 key raises the volume
- Wait until you see GAME OVER in DMD to play with the new settings
- Using the 8 and 9 keys, adjust the volume. The 9 key lowers the volume, the 8 key raises the volume (You may have to press the 9 key first to be able to adjust the volume)
- Wait 30 seconds for the table to reset
- Press END key to open coin door.
- Using the 8 and 9 keys, adjust the volume. The 8 key will lower the volume, while the 9 key will raise the volume.
- You may have to press END key to close the coin door.
- Press 7 to enter menu system.
- Using the shift keys, cycle through the menus until you see Set Volume
- Press 1 to select that menu
- Using the shift keys, adjust the volume. Left Shift Key lowers the volume, Right Shift Key raises the volume
- To exit the menu system, press the 7 key once.
- Press 7 to enter the audits and adjustments menu
- Continue to press 7 until you see Expand Adjustments (or Expand Adjusts) in the DMD
- Press 1 to change option to Yes
- Continue to press 7 until you see Volume Adjustment or Background Music Volume in the DMD
- Press 1 to adjust the volume percentage. You can either set it to OFF, or to 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%
- Either continually press 7 to go through all the menu options to reset the table and save changes, or press F3.
Links to some high quality verified tables. Extract/Copy all VPX files to C:\Visual Pinball\Tables.
ROM set (if needed) is also named. Copy (not extract) the ROM ZIP file to C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\roms.
| Table | Manufacturer | Year | ROM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Ball | Williams | 1966 | |
| AC/DC | Stern | 2013 | acd_170h |
| Addams Family | Bally | 1992 | taf_l7 |
| Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends | Data East | 1993 | rab_320 |
| Ali | Stern | 1980 | ali |
| Amazing Spider-Man Classic Edition | Stern | 2016 | smanve_101 |
| Apollo 13 | Sega | 1995 | apollo13 |
| Atlantis | Bally | 1989 | atlantis |
| Attack from Mars | Bally | 1995 | afm_113b |
| Austin Powers | Stern | 2001 | austin |
| Aztec | Williams | 1976 | |
| Bad Cats | Williams | 1989 | bcats_l5 |
| Bally Game Show | Bally | 1990 | gs_la3 |
| Barracora | Williams | 1981 | barra_l1 |
| Batman | Data East | 1991 | btmn_106 |
| Big Bang Bar | Capcom | 1996 | bbb109 |
| Big Brave | Gottlieb" | 1974 | |
| Big Buck Hunter Pro | Stern | 2010 | bbh_170 |
| Black Knight | Williams | 1980 | bk_l4 |
| Black Rose | Bally | 1992 | br_l4 |
| Bobby Orr Power Play Hockey | Bally | 1977 | pwerplay |
| Bone Busters Inc. | Gottlieb | 1989 | bonebstr |
| Bram Stoker's Dracula | Williams | 1993 | drac_l1 |
| Breakshot | Capcom | 1996 | bsv103 |
| Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball | Bally | 1991 | bbnny_l2 |
| Cactus Canyon | Bally | 1998 | cc_13 |
| Capersville | Bally | 1966 | |
| Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy | Bally | 1976 | |
| Card Whiz aka Royal Flush | Gottlieb | 1976 | |
| Centigrade 37 | Gottlieb | 1977 | |
| Champion Pub | Williams | 1998 | cp_16 |
| Checkpoint | Data East | 1991 | ckpt_a17 |
| Cirqus Voltaire | Bally | 1997 | cv_20h |
| Congo | Williams | 1995 | congo_21 |
| Creature from the Black Lagoon | Bally | 1992 | cftbl_l4 |
| Diner | Williams | 1990 | diner_l4 |
| Earthshaker | Williams | 1989 | esha_la3 |
| El Dorado | Gottlieb | 1975 | |
| Elvira and the Party Monsters | Bally | 1989 | eatpm_l4 |
| Elvis | Stern | 2004 | elvis |
| Evel Knievel | Bally | 1977 | evelknie |
| Fireball | Bally | 1972 | |
| Fish Tales | Williams | 1992 | ft_l5 |
| Flash Gordon | Bally | 1981 | flashgdn |
| Flash | Williams | 1979 | flash_l1 |
| Flintstones | Williams | 1994 | fs_lx5 |
| Funhouse | Williams | 1990 | fh_905h |
| Genesis | Gottlieb | 1986 | genesis |
| Genie | Gottlieb | 1979 | genie |
| Gigi | Gottlieb | 1963 | |
| Gilligan's Island | Bally | 1991 | gi_l9 |
| Godzilla | Sega | 1998 | godzilla |
| Gorgar | Williams | 1979 | grgar_l1 |
| Guns N' Roses | Data East | 1994 | gnr_300 |
| Harlem Globetrotters On Tour | Bally | 1979 | hglbtrtb |
| Haunted House | Gottlieb | 1982 | hh |
| Heat Wave | Williams | 1964 | |
| High Speed | Williams | 1986 | hs_l4 |
| Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure | Williams | 1993 | ij_l7 |
| Indianapolis 500 | Bally | 1995 | i500_11r |
| Iron Man Vault Edition | Stern | 2014 | im_185ve |
| Jacks Open | Gottlieb | 1977 | |
| Jet Spin | Gottlieb | 1977 | |
| Johnny Mnemonic | Williams | 1995 | jm_12r |
| Jokerz! | Williams | 1988 | jokrz_l6 |
| Judge Dredd | Bally | 1993 | jd_l1 |
| Jungle Lord | Williams | 1981 | jngld_l2 |
| Jurassic Park | Data East | 1993 | jupk_600 |
| King of Diamonds | Gottlieb | 1967 | |
| King Pin | Gottlieb | 1973 | |
| KISS | Bally | 1979 | kissc |
| Lady Luck | Bally | 1986 | ladyluck |
| Laser War | Data East | 1987 | lwar_a83 |
| Last Action Hero | Data East | 1993 | lah_113 |
| Lawman | Gottlieb | 1971 | |
| Lethal Weapon 3 | Data East | 1992 | lw3_208 |
| Lord of the Rings | Stern | 2003 | lotr |
| Magic City | Williams | 1967 | |
| Medieval Madness | Williams | 1997 | mm_109c |
| Metallica | Stern | 2013 | mtl_180h |
| Mustang | Stern | 2014 | mt_145h |
| Nags | Williams | 1960 | |
| NASCAR | Stern | 2005 | nascar |
| NBA Fastbreak | Bally | 1997 | nbaf_31 |
| No Fear: Dangerous Sports | Williams | 1995 | nf_23x |
| Outer Space | Gottlieb | 1972 | |
| OXO | Williams | 1973 | |
| Party Zone | Bally | 1991 | pz_f4 |
| Pat Hand | Williams | 1975 | |
| Phantom of the Opera | Data East | 1990 | poto_a32 |
| Police Force | Williams | 1989 | polic_l4 |
| Popeye Saves the Earth | Bally | 1994 | pop_lx5 |
| Quicksilver | Stern | 1980 | quicksil |
| Radical | Bally | 1990 | radcl_l1 |
| Red & Ted's Road Show | Williams | 1994 | rs_l6 |
| Ripley's Believe it or Not | Stern | 2004 | ripleys |
| Road Race | Gottlieb | 1969 | |
| Robocop | Data East | 1989 | robo_a34 |
| Robot | Zaccaria | 1985 | robot |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon | Stern | 2002 | rctycn |
| Royal Flush | Gottlieb | 1976 | |
| Safe Cracker | Bally | 1996 | sc_18n11 |
| Scuba | Gottlieb | 1970 | |
| The Shadow | Bally | 1994 | ts_lx5 |
| Simpsons Pinball Party | Stern | 2003 | simpprty |
| Sing Along | Gottlieb | 1967 | |
| Slick Chick | Gottlieb | 1963 | |
| Sorcerer | Williams | 1985 | sorcr_l2 |
| Space Mission | Williams | 1976 | |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | Williams | 1993 | sttng_l7 |
| Star Wars | Data East | 1992 | stwr_107 |
| Stargod | Zaccaria | 1980 | stargoda |
| Starship Troopers | Sega | 1997 | startrp2 |
| Stellar Wars | Williams | 1979 | stlwr_l2 |
| Stingray | Stern | 1977 | stingray |
| Surfer | Gottlieb | 1976 | |
| Tales from the Crypt | Data East | 1993 | tftc_400 |
| Tales of the Arabian Nights | Williams | 1996 | totan_14 |
| Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Williams | 1991 | t2_l8 |
| Theater of Magic | Bally | 1995 | tom_14hb |
| Trade Winds | Williams | 1962 | |
| Transformers | Stern | 2011 | tf_180 |
| Tron Legacy | Stern | 2011 | |
| Twilight Zone | Bally | 1993 | tz_94h |
| Victory | Gottlieb | 1987 | victory |
| Walking Dead | Stern | 2014 | twd_160h |
| Wheel of Fortune | Stern | 2007 | wof_500 |
| Who Dunnit | Bally | 1995 | wd_12 |
| Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard | Data East | 1994 | tomy_500 |
| Whoa Nellie! | Stern | 2015 | |
| World Cup Soccer | Bally | 1994 | wcs_l2 |
| X-Men | Stern | 2012 | xmn_151h |
This will allow you to double click a ".VPX" file to start a machine. Run the following commands elevated.
New-PSDrive -Name HKCR -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCR:.VPX' -Name '(Default)' -Value 'vpx_file'
New-Item -Path 'HKCR:vpx_file'
New-Item -Path 'HKCR:vpx_file\shell'
New-Item -Path 'HKCR:vpx_file\shell\open'
New-Item -Path 'HKCR:vpx_file\shell\open\command'
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCR:vpx_file\shell\open\command' -Name '(Default)' -Value '"C:\Visual Pinball\VPinballX64.exe" -ExtMinimized -Play "%1"'DirectB2S files are "Background to 2nd Screen" files, which allow for animated back glass to be sent to a second screen. This is useful for dedicated machines, or perhaps if you want an animated back glass on a second monitor.
I don't recommend using B2S on a single monitor setup.
See the B2S Wiki for more details.
Use: VPinballX64.exe -ExtractVBS [VPX_filename]. A VBS file will be created in the current directory.
VPinballX64: $env:AppData\VPinballX\VPinballX.ini
VPinMame: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Freeware\Visual PinMame. Defaults are under the "default" key.
A set of pages I've found useful.
- Visual Pinball X releases
- PinMAME Releases
- VPX Pinball Tables (VPUniverse)
- PinMAME ROMs
- VPX Tables by VPinWorkshop
- VPX Tables by EMUnderdogs
- Alphabetical Listing of VPM tables w/Links to Tutorials
- IPDB Top 300 Rated Pinball Machines
- Virtual Pinball Spreadsheet - choose [X] Features: VPX on left-hand side.
- Visual Pinball X 10 VPX 👉 450 Tables + ROMS Pack