Main Restorations Software Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Everything Else Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements Monitor/Video GroovyMAME Merit/JVL Touchscreen Meet Up Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing Woodworking Software Support Forums Consoles Project Arcade Reviews
Automated Projects Artwork Frontend Support Forums Pinball Forum Discussion Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board controls.dat Linux Miscellaneous Arcade Wiki Discussion Old Archives
Lightguns Arcade1Up Try the site in https mode Site News

Unread posts | New Replies | Recent posts | Rules | Chatroom | Wiki | File Repository | RSS | Submit news

  

Author Topic: Building a pinball cab  (Read 2505 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MydknyteStyrm

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 331
  • Last login:March 20, 2024, 12:19:41 pm
  • Makeup FX Gamer
Building a pinball cab
« on: December 13, 2017, 01:25:22 pm »
So after building my MCP arcade, I decided to tackle building a virtual pinball. I was given a 40” LCD from my job for Christmas, and wanted to know if anyone can point me towards building plans for one.

One of my main questions is, isn’t laying a LCD flat not good for the TV? So many questions, but need a jumping off point. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Slippyblade

  • Trade Count: (+2)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3167
  • Last login:November 16, 2023, 11:39:51 am
  • And to the death god we say, "Not today!"
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2017, 01:35:41 pm »
Following, since I want to do one as well.  Check out the Gingerballs build thread though, it's an amazing little machine.  I had the privilege of playing it at ZapCon last year.

loupg

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 51
  • Last login:December 26, 2021, 06:20:34 pm
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2017, 09:13:29 am »
One of my main questions is, isn’t laying a LCD flat not good for the TV?

Sort of.  The LCD screen is generally only supported around the edges, not in the middle, so it's more susceptible to damage when laying flat, especially with larger screens.

That being said, if I had a free TV just laying around and wanted to build a video pinball game, I'd probably give it a try and see what happens.  You're likely not going to have the TV completely flat (pinball playing fields aren't flat, right,) so it will move more of the stress to the supported edges rather than the middle of the screen, and maybe consider putting glass/plexi over the screen as a part of the finished build to help protect it from ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- dropping on it.

Nephasth

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1376
  • Last login:March 11, 2024, 11:02:52 pm
  • Bitches love Centipede
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2017, 10:53:07 am »
Don't. Take the money you would have dumped into this project and buy a real pin. Nothing beats the real thing. :cheers:
%Bartop

Mike A

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5884
  • Last login:Today at 05:37:55 pm
  • This plan is foolproof
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2017, 11:11:25 am »
I played a couple of virtual pinball machines at the Midwest Gaming Classic last year. They suuuuuuuuck. If you ever played any amount of real pinball, the virtual stuff is a limp approximation.

Slippyblade

  • Trade Count: (+2)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3167
  • Last login:November 16, 2023, 11:39:51 am
  • And to the death god we say, "Not today!"
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2017, 01:45:46 pm »
Yeah... The real thing is magnitudes better.  But a real one costs WAY more than a V-pin, and they take up twice the space of an upright arcade cab...  so you fit ONE.  This same tired old rote gets trotted out everytime someone mentions vpins.  I think of them the same way as arcade cabs.  The real thing is nice, but sometimes a multi-machine is better for the purpose.

ZoOl007

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 161
  • Last login:August 02, 2020, 12:03:38 pm
    • RGBcommander
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2017, 02:12:50 pm »
I have a virtual pinball and I like it very much. It has 3 screens in it: a decased 42", a 29" for the backglass, a 4:3 17" for the dmd. Contactors for force feedback, high power leds, strobosope and 2 'turning lights' like the ones they put on an ambulance - I don't know the correct English term... in blue and orange.
All of the gadgets are powered by the pc psu and for the controls I wrote my own code for an arduino board.
A vpin is not a real pinball machine but it is really really nice if it is well done and if you select good tables.
Mine has the same dimensions a real machine.


« Last Edit: December 14, 2017, 02:22:23 pm by ZoOl007 »

loupg

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 51
  • Last login:December 26, 2021, 06:20:34 pm
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2017, 02:17:11 pm »
2 'turning lights' like the ones they put on an ambulance - I don't know the correct English term... in blue and orange.

We don't have a great name for them.  They're called rotating beacons, I believe.

Nephasth

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1376
  • Last login:March 11, 2024, 11:02:52 pm
  • Bitches love Centipede
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2017, 04:03:32 pm »
Yeah... The real thing is magnitudes better.  But a real one costs WAY more than a V-pin, and they take up twice the space of an upright arcade cab...  so you fit ONE.  This same tired old rote gets trotted out everytime someone mentions vpins.  I think of them the same way as arcade cabs.  The real thing is nice, but sometimes a multi-machine is better for the purpose.

Physical game vs programmed game...

You can think of them that way, but it's not about the wooden box... It's about what's inside.

If anyone wants to try out virtual pinball... Save your money and try the Stern Arcade... It sucks, but you'll get to try a variety of games without emptying your wallet. V-Pin builds almost always cost more than mame builds (sometimes costing even more than mid-level pins)... All while they're chasing the physical feel that they'll never get right.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2017, 04:08:48 pm by Nephasth »
%Bartop

jennifer

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2895
  • Last login:August 11, 2023, 06:24:58 am
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #9 on: December 14, 2017, 10:15:28 pm »
     Building a pin cab is quite a commitment, in time, space and equipment and if you start from scratch quite expensive..... The place to start however would be match the lockdown bar to your tv, because that will determine the width of the cab without major modifications to it.

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #10 on: December 14, 2017, 11:47:37 pm »
But a real one costs WAY more than a V-pin

Depends on how you define "real one." If by the term you mean a NIB, a top 20 SS in minty condition, or one of the boutique releases out there then yeah it can cost you north of 5K or 10K. If you mean one of the hundreds of titles and thousands upon thousands of available machines in EM and SS that can be had fully working for a less than 2K (and sometimes ten times less) including the DMDs that drop into the low teens, then no...a V-pin is WAY more expensive than the real thing.   

All my pins have been between 1k and 2k, I'm pretty patient and willing to do some repair work, and I have an Addams in my collection so it's doable. Lots of folks out there aren't as picky on titles and scoop them up for under 500 all the time. I know of about 30 working EMs within an hour of me that are all 500 or less. 

MydknyteStyrm

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 331
  • Last login:March 20, 2024, 12:19:41 pm
  • Makeup FX Gamer
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2018, 09:55:04 am »
Thanks so much for the replies. The lock bar will definitely be the first thing I look for. I understand the argument between real vs V-Pins, and I really like Future Pinball’s setup, but space and $$ are the issue. I have a Mame Cab built with everything from 2600 to WiiU, and I can’t think about how much space I’ve saved in my house by selling off all my consoles and cartridges. A Vpin is the way to go for me, and I plan on doing it right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Malenko

  • KNEEL BEFORE ZODlenko!
  • Trade Count: (+58)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13999
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 07:29:48 pm
  • Have you played with my GingerBalls?
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142404.msg1475162.html
Re: Building a pinball cab
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2018, 12:08:09 pm »
I build a "bartop" vpin (Gingerballs reference earlier). Its not the real thing but it is a fun approximation. I didnt add a bunch of lighting, but I did add "force feedback" and its really cool and playing the machine is lots of fun.

That being said, I own real pins as well and its not the same thing. Vpins not being realistic doesnt mean they cant be fun though. If you like pins and dont care about the limitations of virtual pins, then have at it!

Gingerballs thread: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,150902.0.html
Thomas Surles' BallBuster build: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,151488.0.html

BallBuster turned out better than mine and the thread says he spent under $500 on it.
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.