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How to run "Demo Man", an MPF example game

One of the development machines we have for MPF is a 1994 Williams Demolition Man, and we have a simple MPF configuration built for it that you can run to see MPF in action.

Even if you don't have a physical Demolition Man machine (which we assume you don't), you can run our "Demo Man" config using MPF's smart virtual platform.

1. Download the MPF examples bundle

Instructions here.

2. Run Demo Man, a sample game that comes with MPF

Open a command prompt (like you did when you installed MPF) and switch to the folder where you unzipped the mpf-examples ZIP file, then change to the demo_man folder and run:

mpf both -X

(Note that's an uppercase "X")

The mpf both command launches both the MPF game engine and media controller at the same time, the -X command line option tells MPF to use the "Smart Virtual" platform (instead of the P-ROC platform that the Demo Man files are configured for) since you most likely don't have a Demolition Man machine connected to your computer right now.

You should see a bunch of stuff scroll by and a pop up window which shows the Demo Man DMD, like this:

image

If you don't see the DMD window pop up, make sure it isn't hiding behind another window.

3. "Play" your first game

Since you don't have physical hardware attached, you can use the keyboard to simulate machine switch changes.

The Demo Man configuration files have the "S" key mapped to start, so if you click in the graphical window with the DMD in it (to give it focus) and push the S key, then you should see the DMD attract mode stop and it change to a score screen showing a score of 00 and BALL 1 FREE PLAY:

If your speakers are on you should also hear a music loop playing. (Depending on your system, you might not hear the music when the DMD window doesn't have focus.)

At this point you can "play" the game via your keyboard. Hit the L key to launch the ball into play. You should hear the music loop change to the main background music.

You can hit the X key to simulate the left slingshot hit which should play a sound effect on top of the music as well as show a score. You can hit the 1 key to simulate the ball draining and entering the trough. Then you can hit the L key again to launch the ball into play again. You can also press the S key additional times during Ball 1 to add additional players.

When you play through a complete game (3 balls per player), the machine should go back into attract mode (or possibly the high score entry mode).

You can quit the game by making sure the Demo Man popup window is in focus and hitting the Esc key.

To summarize the instructions for "playing" a game from the paragraphs above:

  1. Launch both the MPF core engine and the media controller and make sure you see the the popup graphical window with the DMD in it.
  2. Click the mouse into the DMD window so that it has "focus"
  3. Press the S key to start a game. You should hear the music loop start.
  4. Press the L key to launch a ball into play. You should her the music switch to the main background theme for the game.
  5. Press the X key a few times to simulate hitting the left slingshot. You should see the score change each time you do this.
  6. Press the 1 key to drain the ball.
  7. Repeat Steps 4-6 until you finish your game or get bored.
  8. If you get a high score, the Z and / keys are mapped to the left and right flipper buttons to highlight a letter, and the S key (start) selects it.
  9. Press the Esc key to exit

What if it did not work?

In the following we list some common problems and solutions. If you got another problem please ask in our forum.

Keyboard does not work

If your keyboard does not work first make sure that the MC window has focus. Afterward, please check if numlock is enabled. This seems to be common issue on Windows 10. Disable numlock in this case.

Game does not start errors

Version mismatch - Make sure you are using the exact version of demo_man for your MPF, MPF-MC and MPF monitor (optional). For instance use 0.30.x if you are on MPF 0.30.2. MPF-MC and (if installed) MPF monitor need to have the same major version (0.30 in this case). You can check installed versions using pip3 list.

FT_ListDevices(2) or WARNING : P-Roc : Failed to instantiate pinproc.PinPROC(3) error - By default the Demo Man example expects to be connected to P-Roc hardware. If you see this you probably forgot to add the -X switch to your mpf both command which tells MPF to override the hardware setting to the Smart Virtual platform. This sometimes happens when trying to debug another error and you follow the guide about verbose logging using the -v -V switches.

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