i'm starting this, because many of this problems/questions are popping up each day.

so here are my tips/preferred settings (i'm running in 1080p-arcade mode with backglass on a single 5850 radeon)

- windows 7x64: start as "administrator" and in "windows xp-sp3 compatibilty mode"
- tearing/stuttering: enable vsync & set hardware lights to 4 or even 7 (maxed out)
- table not loading: turn model quality to "high"
- texture problems/white playfield etc.: use bilinear instead of trilinenar filtering, use low-quality versions/playfields if available (HD presentation needs a lot of video-memory)
- hyperpin: i recently discovered that it takes away 5-10fps at some tables (which makes them stutter), so try them first without HP
- fraps: using fraps can create texturing issues on some tables (try first without fraps)
- grey dmd: thats an unfixed FP bug (colors are fine when running a second screen for backglass/dmd)

collected tips from below/other threads:

- most important: in "preferences -> editor options" untick "Load Image into Table Editor"

- memory leak: restart fp.exe after running every table (or use a launcher that does this for you)
- win7x64: install FP not within of c:\program files\... (win7 UAC)
- organize: you can create subfolders for every table/table-version (unfortunatley this doesnt work with some launchers)
- caching: on some tables (with much sounds/music) you have to play a full game (until all resources are loaded into memory), before running completely smooth... so don't change your settings before
- cpu: at some systems (like core-duo), setting "processor affinity" to "single" helps improving performance
- win7x64: apply full (manual) windows-update with latest-generation nvidias (startup error message)
- older gfx/systems: start with "minimum" video-preset and work your way up


i'm also posting my current video-options, which i would consider as HQ options (so for sure not suitable for anyone)

please guys continue add your tips & solutions here... thanks to all contributors!

Stickyed.

GLXB

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Follow me on twitter. @GLXB Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GLXBandHigh ... ature=mhee

My 2 cents

1)
On Windows 7 or Vista (and for games in general), do NOT install them in the default directory : "c:\Program Files (x86)\Future Pinball" or "c:\Program Files\Future Pinball\"
Those folders are special folders for windows that require (for you as a user or for the software) special privileges to write in. For new games this is not a problem (read: all the games that are available since at least 2 years or so) - because they were designed to take this into account.
But for Future Pinball and older games this is a big problem - because they can't write inside this folder and most of the time they won't start (at all) or will crash / bug randomly (for example, they try, but fail, to save they preferences as .ini file - which was a good practice in the old days...). That's why you have to run them as "Administrator" to give future pinball enough privileges. This is NOT a good practice - because you give Future Pinball executable full control over your hardrive and operating system...

My advice: always install your games in a c:\games ou c:\jeux (or in another hardrive of course).
Don't named the folder with special characters like spaces, accent (for example: Skyrim doesn't start if you do so): only letter, digit, underscore and minus characters.

2)
You don't have to extract your tables in the future pinball folders (Libraries / Tables).
You can create one folder for each table and double click on the fpt file to launch the table (you can also do "right click" --> "Launch table")
For example, I have created a folder d:\table\ and inside I have a fodler for "terminator2" and so on.
I know this is a problem for users of Hyperpin as it can't deal with subfolders - but this is a good practice for others

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I always restart the Future Pinball software if I want to play another table.

Saves me alot of trouble. : )

Is it just me that feels this place is missing an FP FAQ??

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Nope. I also have problem finding a place to ask stuff about FP.

Here are a few old advice, if the CPU or the graphics card is not particularly powerful.

If you have problems getting the table load, first try to turn off the "Load Image into Table Editor" setting from the "Preferences > Editor Options..." page of Future Pinball. Then start Future Pinball again.

If you have problems getting the table to start (or while playing), try first to turn off the "Playfield Reflections (Components)" setting in the "Preferences > Video/Rendering Options..." page of Future Pinball. Then start Future Pinball again.

Next, if above doesn't help, then try to change "Presets:" to "Medium", or even "Minimum", from the "Preferences > Video/Rendering Options..." page of Future Pinball. And then start Future Pinball again.

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My FP tables: SAMURAI , PINBOT , Skateball , Space Shuttle, Space Station and CONAN.

I've two Pc's : one (very old) Desktop Dell 4600 (Intel 2.66 GHz/ graphic card nvidia fx500 / windows XP SP3 / 2GB) and one (old) Portable Dell Latitude E6400 (Intel Duo 2.54 GHz/ graphic card nvidia quadro 160M / windows 7 Integral 32bits SP1 / 4GB).

After reading attentively all the advices on this forum and after many, many and more many tests, here is the best configuration for both my two PC's :


For the PC with Windows 7, I followed scrupulously the advices on this post and everything works great well without any problem with none of the tables

Momoch

Monoch, you might want to try bilinear instead of trilinear filtering. I found not only a performance boost, but also it looks better -- sharper image.

I just tried on the offchance to see if this worked using the NVidia 3D Vision technology as every game I have tried so far works in some way or another. This didnt even register.

Anyone know what it would take for this to be 3D enabled?