VPLauncher V3.02:
=================
This program can be used to play Visual Pinball and Future Pinball tables.
It shows information about all available tables. If a table is selected,
a screenshot, flyers and/or the table rules are displayed. A double click
starts the desired table. Please read the information provided by the online
help for more information (start the program and press F1 to get the online
help).

VPLauncher works without the screenshots, which can be downloaded separatly.
However, it is much more fun if you have the screenshots!
Don't forget do download the screenshots update files also!

Requirements:
=============
- Windows 95 or higher
- Screen resolution at least 800x600 (a screen resolution of at least 1024x768
  is recommended)
- Visual Pinball (available at http://www.VisualPinball.com) and/or
  Future Pinball (available at http://www.FuturePinball.com)
- Visual Pinball and/or Future Pinball tables (you'll find some usefull links
  in menu item "Direct Web Links..." in Help menu) 
  
Installation:
=============
Install VPLauncher to a directory of your choice by starting the self-
extracting archive. If an older version of VPLauncher was installed, just
install the new version in the same directory. The new version will take over
all your configurations and (most) of your changed table information.

If you have downloaded the optional packs (screenshots,
rules, flyers), start pack installation file and follow the instructions
given. Install screenshots update packs in chronological order.

When VPLauncher is started the first time, the configuration dialog
appears. Press F1 to get online help.

Deinstallation:
===============
Just delete the VPLauncher installation directory with all of its
content.

Author of VPLauncher:
=====================
Roland Scholz 
email: rs@RolandScholz.de

VPLauncher homepage:
====================
http://VPLauncher.RolandScholz.de

VPLauncher Table Ratings:
=============================
http://VPLauncher.RolandScholz.de/TableRatings.html

UPX:
====
UPX (the Ultimate Packer for eXecutables) is used to compress the
VPLauncher executable. This reduced the size of VPLauncher.exe to 35% of the
original size. The VPLauncher installation executable was reduced to 80%.
UPX Copyright (c) 1996-2004 Markus Oberhumer & Laszlo Molnar,
http://upx.sourceforge.net

History:
========
V3.02 (03/10/06):
New:
   . VPLauncher will now "remember" last selected table when exiting
Changed:
   . List displays now show favourite tables with three stars as suffix
Bugs fixed:
   . Jpeg-images can't be used for rules any more
   . In file dialog in Edit window, VPLauncher didn't remember the last
     used Screenshots, Flyers- and Rules directory.
V3.01 (02/20/06):
Changed:
   . There is now a font dialog where the font used by the main windows can
     be specified.
   . Installer used instead of self-extracting archive.
Bugs fixed:
   . Some dialogs had german Yes- and No-buttons.
   . Menu item "Start Future Pinball" started Visual Pinball.
V3.0 (02/10/06):
New:
   . Future Pinball support
   . Font size for main windows is adjustable in configuration dialog
   . Easier import of screenshots (just press <Alt>-<Print> while playing
     the table and in VPLauncher, right click and select menu item
     "Take Over Screenshot From Clipboard")
   . Minor enhancements
V2.61 (04/25/04):
Changed:
   . Data base hase been updated by Jonathan Bovard
   . Initial table scan is now approximately 25% faster
   . Executable is smaller
Info:
   . Jon also has updated the screenshots and flyers packs!
V2.6 (01/29/04):
New:
   . You can now create more than one configuration. Configurations can be
     switched at startup and from System menu.
   . The key , cycles through screenshot, rules and flyers in compact display
     and through screenshots and flyers in multi window displays.
   . Shortcuts for most menu items (for example CTRL-R to play random tables)
Changed:
   . Data base has been updated by Cobracure and myself
   . The initial table scan is now much faster
   . Due to the fact that some table authors write stupid information into the
     table information, matching entries in the data base override table
     information now.
   . Chance for table mismatch decreased dramatically due to a better
     'match by name' method implemented.
Bugs fixed:
   . Tree displays: Some functions had problems when a sub item was selected.
   . Menu item "Show Newer Versions of Existing Tables" sometimes showed wrong
     results.
   . Minor bugfixes
V2.53 (09/02/02):
New:
   . You can now export table information to be used in MS-Excel.
     See online help for details.
Changed:
   . A lot of additions to the data base.
V2.52 (06/12/02):
Changed:
   . A lot of additions to the data base.
Bugs fixed:
   . User changed table information could be lost when
     using a new data base file.
   . When selecting screenshots or flyers or rules in
     edit dialog, the last used directory was not used
     as the initial directory.
   . Minor bugfixes
V2.51 (06/02/02):
New:
   . In config dialog you can now switch off automatic
     extraction of screenshots and rules from the table
     file (but it is not recommended to do so).
Changed:
   . In compact display modes, if you select an entry the
     appropriate file name will be displayed in main
     dialog title.
   . Minor improvements
Bugs fixed:
   . In some cases, editing table information did not work.
V2.5 (05/26/02):
New:
   . Table Rating: You can now rate tables with a
     number between 1 (horrible) to 10 (just perfect). 
     These ratings can be send to me automatically.
     I will compile these ratings and create some web
     pages showing the ratings of all users.
Changed:
   . Emails are now sent with built-in email support
     instead of using Outlook
   . Additions/corrections to the table data base. It has been
     improved to minimize wrong table matches.
Bugs fixed:
   . Rules and screenshots were not extracted automatically
     from table information when matching tables.
   . Minor bugfixes
V2.4 (04/22/02):
New:
   . Multi language support (besides the standard english
     version, there is now an optional french language pack
     available).
   . Optional (small) flyers- and rules-pack available.
Changed:
   . Major improvement of the data base. It is now very
     accurate and contains information about more than
     760 unique tables and almost 2300 versions.
Bugs fixed:
   . In rare cases, VPLauncher always matched all tables
     at startup (instead of doing this only when the once)
V2.33 (04/01/02):
Bugs fixed:
   . Favourite Tables were not shown.
V2.32 (04/01/02):
New:
   . You can now get to a table authors website from the
     Table Information dialog
   . You can now write an email to a table author from the
     Table Information dialog
   . Help menu contains an entry for direct web links for
     the main Visual Pinball sites.
Changed:
   . Additions/corrections to the table data base
Bugs fixed:
   . Using button 'Get Screenshot From Clipboard' in Edit
     dialog failed with a table which hasnt't any screenshot
     previously.
   . In rare cases, startup produced an error message sometimes
     for TB6 tables.
V2.31 (03/25/02):
Bugs fixed:
   . Some code for an upcoming feature (invisible to the user)
     caused V2.3 to crash on some systems.
V2.3 (03/24/02):
New:
   . Table Information stored in the table file are automatically
     used if available (table created with Visual Pinball TB6 or
     higher only). This includes rules and screnshot! You can
     view these information from the table context menu.
   . You can now create your own screenshots with VPLauncher
     (from the Edit dialog). Read online help of Edit Dialog
     for more information.
   . Tree Views can now be sorted by Authors, Company, Year etc.
   . Optionally, the file path of tables can be displayed in Tree-
     and Grid modes
Changed:
   . A lot of additions/corrections to the table data base
   . If a file is selected from wrong directory in Edit dialog, the
     user is asked whether or not to copy the file to the correct
     directory
Bugs fixed:
   . When editing table info and using a table type not yet known,
     the table type was not displayed in the table type lists
V2.2 (03/10/02):
New:
   . VPLauncher can now check your VPinMame ROMs
   . Four new display types available, three tree displays and one
     more list display. Now a total of 9 display types are
     available
   . VPLauncher can now show you, if there are newer versions
     available for your tables.
   . You can now specify additional directories where VPLauncher
     searches for flyers and rules.
Changed:
   . A lot of Corrections/additions to the table data base
Bugs fixed:
   . Now rtf-rule files can be used.
   . Minor bugfixes
V2.1 (02/19/02):
New:
   . Favorite tables are now shown in bold face in grid modes.
   . Right click on a table shows a popup menu, where you can choose
     'Add to Favourites' and 'Edit Table Information'
Changed:
   . Corrections/additions to the table data base
Bugs fixed:
   . Sometimes, editing table information didn't work.
   . Minor bugfixes
V2.02 (02/16/02):
New:
   . There is a menu item in Extra menu to select and start a table
     randomly.
Changed:
   . Corrections/additions to the table data base
   . Minor improvement when matching tables
Bugs fixed:
   . VPLauncher couldn't use jpg-images in progressive mode
   . Editing table information didn't work for tables matched by file
     name.
V2.01 (02/14/02):
Bugs fixed:
   . Edit button didn't work in 'Grid Multi Window' mode.
   . Rule files were not searched in sub-directory Rules of VPLauncher
     installation directory.
   . Edit didn't work, when no version number was given.
   . Minor bugfixes.
V2.0 (02/13/02):
   . VPLauncher now uses checksums (CRC32 values) to identify tables. 
     VPlauncher.dat contains checksums to identify many versions of a
     table (more than 530 tables with a total of more than 1600 versions!).
     With this, tables can be identified even if you have renamed the file.
     Search names are only used to identify new versions. Now more than one
     version of a table can be identified.
   . Editing table information completely rewritten (now using a new, easier
     to use dialog). Table information changed with the last version of
     VPLauncher can't be used with this version, but changed information is
     now stored in a way that should be stable from now on.
   . Grid now uses a stable search algorithm (i.e. you now can sort by 
     year and then by company to have for example all Bally tables sorted
     by year)
   . Switching from table to table is now faster.
   . Up to three flyers can now be used
   . Flyers are now searched in table directory and in sub-directory Flyers
     of VPLauncher installation directory.
   . Rules are now searched in table directory and in sub-directory Rules
     of VPLauncher installation directory.
   . Screenshots are now searched in sub-directory Screenshots of VPLauncher
     installation directory and in table directory.
   . Recursive directory search can be switched off
V1.152 (01/13/02):
   . Last changes broke the Editor. Now it works again.
V1.151 (01/13/02):
   . Saving hidden categories didn't work correctly. This has been fixed.
V1.15 (01/13/02):
   . New 'scroll to table entry when pressing a letter' feature messed up the editor.
     This has been fixed.
   . If you have changed table information using the editor and press the 'Launch'
     button, you are asked whether or not you want to save your changes.
V1.14 (01/12/02):
   . VPLauncher now ends VisualPinball if you quit a table
   . VPLauncher now shows flyers (if provided with the tables)
   . Exiting VPLauncher will save complete state of all display types to disk (i.e.
     window positions and size, hidden categories, grid column sizes etc.). The state
     will be reloaded on startup. 
   . Grid contains now table file date information (and can be sorted accordingly)
   . If you press a letter on the grid, selection jumps to first row where the cell 
     with the selected column contains a word beginning with the pressed letter (i.e.
     if you sort the grid by table name and you press k, then the grid scrolls to
     the first table beginning with k). 
   . Some small enhancements
V1.13 (01/06/02):
   . Changing table information finally works now for newly found tables
   . For selecting directories there is now a directory selector used (instead of
     a file selector)
   . Directories are now searched recursively for tables
   . You can now display tables you don't have
V1.12 (12/31/01):
   . When adding tables to favourites, wrong table types appeared in Show/Hide list
   . When selecting a table in the grid, not the complete row was selected
V1.11 (12/30/01):
   . Changing table information didn't work for newly found tables and table name
     changes.
   . Sometimes, the online help could not be found.
   . At startup, the list of tables wasn't correctly sorted in grid display.
V1.1 (12/30/01):
   . There are now four types of display: simple, compact, multi-window and
     simple multi-window (see online help for details).
   . Changed table information will now be stored in a separate file so that a
     new dat-file will not override your changes.
   . Table rule files can now be text- or jpg-files.
   . You can now specify your favourite tables (as one type of table)
   . Tables can now be of more than one type (for example Historic and Favourite)
   . VPLauncher now 'remembers' size and position of all windows.
   . Table information file contains more than 40 new entries (with a total of about
     440 tables)
V1.01 (12/11/01):
   . Fixed a bug with the standard configuration (it gave an access violation error).
V1.0 (12/10/01):
   . Initial revision


Note:
=====
THIS PROGRAM CAN'T BE SOLD WITHOUT THE AUTHORS EXPRESS PERMISSION.

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. 
THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
ORAL OR WRITTEN, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL,
OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE PROGRAM OR
YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AUTHOR, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY OR
ALL DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION
OR ANY PECUNIARY LOSS, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF SUCH DAMAGES.


