Looking for ideas for my next project...

[reko19]

Some time ago after considerable amount of lurking around I came across Knievel's Neon Mame. I new I just had to have it so my first project took off. Few years later saw Mountain's jukebox and since I always wanted to do a touch screen project, my second project was born.  I am ready for something new. I looked at hydrolyc flight and racing simulators but didn't find anything cool, looked at cocktail cab but I already have mame.  Was thinking about another Mame cab but I am really happy with the one I got and now with the LED blinky installed it really rocks. Right now vpinball cabinet is at the top of the list and I am about to dive into it. But before I do I want to hear everyone's opinion. So any ideas anyone?

[javeryh]

I was going to suggest a vpin project.  Go for it.

[Dazz]

My vpin project is just about complete.  Cabinet was painted last week and I am slowly getting all of the electronics installed back in.  Artwork is still going to take several more months, but at least within the next couple days mine will be playable.  It makes a very nice compliment to my MAME cabinet.

[drventure]

+1 on the vpin

When I finish my buffet, it's either a vpin or a full on driving cab.

[reko19]

I have a couple of real pins and my concern is how close is the virtual. Although vpin came a long way as comared to a few years ago. Full size driving cab takes a lot of space so this is out of the questions.

[Dazz]

You'd be surprised at how close vpins come to real pins.  Sure you don't get the feel of all the mechanical parts, but if you like pins and are constrained to space then a vpin is the way to go.  Check out the hyperspin-fe.com HyperPin forums. The HyperSpin HyperPin forums has become one of the great resources when it comes to vpin cabs.  Download and install Visual Pinball and play with a couple tables and give it a shot.  You may be quite surprised.

[reko19]

I did try it, some of the tables are very impressing. I would imagine there will be more and more as the time goes by. Thanks for the replies guys, I guess I made the right choice with my next build.

[HanoiBoi]

I'll ask this now as this may be a stupid question, but the timing seems right...

Being completely new to pinball emulators (I once had one working, barely)...are all the emulated pinball machines new, original creations or are there *real* machines available, such as Funhouse, Whirlwind, Whitewater, Black Knight, Riverboat Gambler, etc.?

(I've seen pics of others' vpin builds, but I don't think I've ever recognized a table that was loaded)

[Dazz]

I'll ask this now as this may be a stupid question, but the timing seems right...

Being completely new to pinball emulators (I once had one working, barely)...are all the emulated pinball machines new, original creations or are there *real* machines available, such as Funhouse, Whirlwind, Whitewater, Black Knight, Riverboat Gambler, etc.?

(I've seen pics of others' vpin builds, but I don't think I've ever recognized a table that was loaded)

There is a great mix of both real (emulated) tables and original tables.  Visual Pinball is mostly used for re-creations such as Funhouse, Whirlwind, Whitewater, Black Knight, Riverboat Gambler, etc.  Where as Future Pinball has some simply amazing original tables.

Visual Pinball: Recreation - Adams Family


Future Pinball: Original - Three Angels

[HanoiBoi]

Thanks Dazz...

So, would one have to choose between Visual Pinball and Future Pinball?  Or would one have to load both (if so, do they work together?)? 

As I mentioned, I did try previously but had big issues getting visual pinball to work.  I remember I kept seeing tables in a raw form, that I think I was able to alter, but really couldn't figure out how to actually play one....maybe once I did...

Any great starting points suggestions?

[drventure]

There was a thread around here somewhere of one guy added actual solendoids to simulate the mechanical vibrations of the flippers being flipped. I'd guess there's at least a few other tricks like that you could use if so inclined.

Totally understand about the space and the driving cab. I don't really have that kind of space either, but it'd sure be nice to have one.

I'll probably end up doing some kind of vpin my self.

And yes there are a ton of tables, both simulated and real, available for Future Pinball and VPin.

But be aware, you have to have a heck of a lot more graphic card power to run those apps than you do to run mame 

The onboard graphics on my mobo is plenty for most mame games, but FP and VP just choke on it.

[Dazz]

Thanks Dazz...

So, would one have to choose between Visual Pinball and Future Pinball?  Or would one have to load both (if so, do they work together?)? 

As I mentioned, I did try previously but had big issues getting visual pinball to work.  I remember I kept seeing tables in a raw form, that I think I was able to alter, but really couldn't figure out how to actually play one....maybe once I did...

Any great starting points suggestions?

Visual Pinball and Future Pinball are different emulators.  If you want the best of both worlds it's best to have both of them installed.  Using a front end like HyperPin will allow you to run both fairly seamlessly.

As far as performance, neither Visual Pinball nor Future Pinball like ATI video cards.  For a full size cab, you will either want 1 dual head video card with 1gb of video memory or if you plan on running a 3 screen setup you will need dual video cards with 1gb preferably.  I personally am running my main 42" playfield with a Nvidia 250GT 1gb and my DMD and Backglass monitors are on a 9800GT 1gb.  Dual or quad core computers are almost a must and the more ram the merrier.  I'm running a AMD Phoenom II quad core with 8gb of ram. The raw form tables that you were seeing is normally due to video card drivers.