That's How I Roll! (Skeeball build)

[thatpurplestuff]

Hey guys.  Once again sorry for the long delays between updates... it's been too hot to work in the garage so everything has been on hold.  On top of that, the motherboard on my POS HP laptop officially fried and I've lost a decent amount of work on the software.

Quick rant: I've had nothing but problems with that HP ZD8000 laptop... overheated all of the time and sounded like a jet engine, developed lines in the screen, keyboard keys started falling off, and had a battery life of less than 1.5 hours (assuming the battery was functioning... went through two batteries that died before I was forced to have the thing plugged into the wall 24/7 without a battery in it).  It was basically a really loud and hot desktop computer with a jacked up monitor.  I would never even consider another HP laptop after buying that incredibly expensive lemon. </rant> 

I have a backup that I made of the laptop, but I still "lost" almost 2 months worth of changes and game modes.  I also lost my Sketchup files for an upcoming arcade build that was looking pretty freakin awesome.  I say "lost" because I'm going to look into an external HD enclosure for this laptop drive and see if I can pull my data off of it... I'm hoping that the only thing to go was the motherboard and that the hard drive isn't damaged. 

Anyway, going to build the triangular leg coverings in the next couple of weeks but work on the software is obviously on hold until I can afford to get another laptop.  Thanks for reading this rant / Skeeball update and I hope to have some more updates coming soon.

[Xiaou2]

Id bet you didnt lose your data, just that the motherboard toasted itself.  Usually if its a HD issue, you will get the Click of Death, (clicking sounds from the drive head crashing).   And if its only partially bad, the pc will still at least show a bootup screen before it tries to load the OS from the HD.

 Its always best to backup your data to other devices or media.  It surprises me that so many people assume that any media is rock solid.  I used to work at a pc place, and brand new HDs from all the major mfgs were coming back bad often.  I had to RMA them on a regular basis.

 I agree with you about HP.  At one time they had some very quality stuff out there.  But now, all their stuff is complete garbage, and wont last long.  Ive seen so many dead and problematic HP equipment, that Im surprised that anyone buys HP anymore.

 Rather than get another Laptop, you might consider de-casing a typical cheapo pc, and making an enclosure for it under your machine, and putting an old CRT or other LCD panel in the backbox.  Typically, its far easier to repair a pc equipment than custom Laptop hardware.  Also, if your LCD goes bad, its really hard to replace on a laptop...but very easy to replace a stand alone LCD panel.

 Laptops are also very bad when it comes to overheating and dust problems, due to the tight shell, and poor airflow... which would be compounded with you stuffing it in another enclosure, especially on a mild.. let alone Hot day.

 Of course, even with a more robust De-Cased PC, an enclosure should be very well ventilated with fan forced air running across the HD & CPU.

 Finally, overall, its much easier to find an old pc around than an old laptop, so should anything go bad with the hardware, its a lower cost fix.  However, if anything happens with a laptop, you also lose your display... so thats double the cost.  Laptops, even used, are more pricy.  And then theres problems with components that fail over time, like batteries. (some which are dangerous should they overheat.. or are exposed to too much vibration, can actually explode / catch fire)

[jlfreund]

What software are you using to handle the key events and draw the menu and display?  Can you describe how that one was built -- is it just a standard windows app?  Did you do the graphics yourself?  Is there any mechanical device such as a door to release the balls when you start the game?

[Nephasth]

Huge fan of your software. Love the different game types! Saw this on ebay today, and thought it would be cool if you could make a double elimination tournament game mode that took the players through the brackets as the tournament went on.

[ds015882]

Do you have a PayPal account Because I would totally make a donation to try out your software

[ds015882]

Anyone want to go on a search party for thepurplestuff?

Been like a little kid staring at my window wanting for my father to come home to see this thing finished

[HaRuMaN]

Last Active:   February 14, 2012, 12:50:55 AM

Try sending him an email, or a PM, or both.

[PIZZ]

Awesome project! amazing work. I always thought of building a hoops machine.

[thatpurplestuff]

Hey there!

First of all, props to Entropy42 for his work on his Skeeball.  He's been making headway on his own software and it looks very promising!  Reading his thread actually motivated me to make a brief update to let you guys know that a) I'm not dead and b) even though I've been lame about updates I've actually been making progress.  Since my computer crash, I rewrote the code that I lost and actually made leaps and bounds in regards to new features... it now features 13 different game modes.  Still a bit away from calling it complete, but I am definitely getting there.  Here are a few of the new game modes... there are more that are almost complete but they aren't quite polished yet.

Skricket: This game mode is now 2 player and based off of the dart game Cricket.  Be the first to hit a hole 3 times and then you get points for every time you hit it.  Your opponent can close the hole by hitting it 3 times and then neither person can score any points on that hole.  Game ends when 10 minute timer runs out, all holes are closed or it is impossible for one person to win.


Skee Spree: Multiplayer Skeeball concerned me a bit because of the amount of time it could potentially take per game... some of the longer games like Skricket or Bowling sometimes took forever because people would get distracted in beer, conversation, or beer conversation.  This game mode starts by selecting the number of players (1-4) and then you start rolling... each person only gets 20 seconds to roll or they get a 0 and it goes to the next player.


Wack-A-Hole: Random hole is chosen every 5 seconds and you can only get points by hitting that hole.  2 minute time limit and you only have 9 balls, so there is a balance to be found between waiting for the right hole to light up and just trying to get any points that you can.


Infection:  Yeah, Milton Bradley's gonna sue somebody.  In this game, the objective is to control rings 10-50 by marking them with your color.  Holes are marked by rolling balls into them, and players take turns throwing 3 balls at a time while attempting to make the entire body their color (either green or red).  The game ends when one player controls all holes at once (or whoever is in the lead when the 5 minute timer runs out)


What is really awesome is how the individual hole LED's interact with the software... while all of the new games can be played using the monitor, you really don't even need to see anything but the score for the most part because the actual Skeeball machine lights up to indicate what is happening in the game.  I'll definitely take some video once I get the rings put back on the machine (while I'm programming the LED's I've been attaching the rings to my laptop for testing).

Thanks for reading and I'm going to try to be a lot better about updates!

[teeuwen]

thats really neat,

i like the artwork and the idea for different game modes! 

[Nephasth]

Wow! That looks great!

An idea for another game... A fun game on my dart machine is a game called Splat. It's up to a 4 player game. Each player starts at zero, and the winner is the first to reach 333 points (some other number could be used for Skeeball). When one player throws a score equalling an opponent's score, that opponent's score is "splatted". If the opponent's score is less than 100, their score is reduced to 0. If the opponent's score is over 100, their score is halved. A player can splat an opponent on their first, second, or third dart; and because of this it is possible to splat one, two, or even three opponents in one turn. To win, 333 has to be thrown exactly, if the player goes over, they bust for the round, just like 01. Splat would be pretty neat adapted to Skeeball.

[Entropy42]

The artwork for your games is so awesome.  I plan to pretty mine up one day, but there is no way it will look that good.  Cool to see the updates, its always fun to see more ideas for game modes.  I found that people enjoyed the Cricket game mode at the party I had, so I'm going to try and make more 2 player games.

Thanks for all the inspiration and ideas for my machine.

[SailorTex]

This build is THE reason I joined this forum!  I am inspired to build one and am at a huge advantage having seen it done SO WELL.   

[bmbas1210]

This is fantastic. I love skeeball. I love the lighting effects. This is like no other skeeball machine I have ever seen. The attention to detail is fantastic. The things that can be done when woodworking is done at another level. Its just another example of the fantastic combination of skill I see on every project here. Just jaw dropping. I will be keeping tabs on this one.

[Entropy42]

You'd asked in the past about the framing for my machine, and I just wanted to let you know I've found something that works really well.  I wrote it up in my project thread (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116309.msg1325158.html#new)

I also wanted to ask you how you did the wiring for your LED light strips.  I've been looking into this, but it looks like its going to be about 3 A for each side of the lane.  I want to control the lane lights with an LEDWiz, but it will only drive 500 ma per channel.  The LED strips I'm finding on Ebay (60 leds/meter, RGB) are also 12V instead of 5V.  I'd love to know how you control them.  Some sort of relay? 
Also, do you find a single LED to be sufficient lighting for the rings, assuming you don't have all the ambient lights off?

[thatpurplestuff]

You'd asked in the past about the framing for my machine, and I just wanted to let you know I've found something that works really well.  I wrote it up in my project thread (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116309.msg1325158.html#new)

I also wanted to ask you how you did the wiring for your LED light strips.  I've been looking into this, but it looks like its going to be about 3 A for each side of the lane.  I want to control the lane lights with an LEDWiz, but it will only drive 500 ma per channel.  The LED strips I'm finding on Ebay (60 leds/meter, RGB) are also 12V instead of 5V.  I'd love to know how you control them.  Some sort of relay? 
Also, do you find a single LED to be sufficient lighting for the rings, assuming you don't have all the ambient lights off?

Hey man!  Great looking frame as far as I can see... unfortunately all images from this site are only loading ~25% before they stop so I can't see a whole lot.  I'll try loading up Chrome or IE to see if it's just an issue with Firefox or something.

For the ramp lights I'm not sure if I will be very helpful since I just use the remote that came with it to control to color of the ramp and I have it as one long strand that loops under the ramp at the front (and illuminates the ground as well).  I thought about controlling it via the LED-Wiz+software but I liked the idea of being able to change it to whatever I feel like while I play... at some point I may make a section of the menu dedicated to the ramp color but for now I'm sticking with the remote and bypassing the LED-wiz altogether.

I'm using RandyT's RGB-Drive Pushbutton Lighting modules for the holes and they work great... obviously they do look better when the lights are off but they are still plenty bright when all of the overhead lights are on in the garage.  I have the LED's pointing towards the back of each ring instead of straight up so basically the area of the ring that is most visible is also the area that has the most LED light being shined on it.  I know the LED-Wiz supports OCX controls but since I am using Flash I found just using the clipboard to be the easiest solution... then I just send commands to the clipboard and access premade files for each ring (like "ring40_rainbow.lwa" or "ring20_fade_iceblue.lwa").  You can also do commands that change all or just some of the rings at once so I really haven't hit any limitations from using the clipboard.

Not sure if that was at all helpful, but it's awesome to see your machine come together!

[DaOld Man]

I also wanted to ask you how you did the wiring for your LED light strips.  I've been looking into this, but it looks like its going to be about 3 A for each side of the lane.  I want to control the lane lights with an LEDWiz, but it will only drive 500 ma per channel.  The LED strips I'm finding on Ebay (60 leds/meter, RGB) are also 12V instead of 5V.  I'd love to know how you control them.  Some sort of relay?

You could control the leds with power transistors, probably have to be PNP since the ledwiz outputs the ground when the output is on. One power transistor per side should work, and it doesnt matter if the led strip is 5 or 12 volts. LED wiz turns on the transistor, transistor turns on the leds.

[DaOld Man]

And, sorry thatpurplestuff, I should have said this first.

I think your skeeball is excellent. Really like the software too.

 

[Entropy42]

For the ramp lights I'm not sure if I will be very helpful since I just use the remote that came with it to control to color of the ramp and I have it as one long strand that loops under the ramp at the front (and illuminates the ground as well).  I thought about controlling it via the LED-Wiz+software but I liked the idea of being able to change it to whatever I feel like while I play... at some point I may make a section of the menu dedicated to the ramp color but for now I'm sticking with the remote and bypassing the LED-wiz altogether.

I'm using RandyT's RGB-Drive Pushbutton Lighting modules for the holes and they work great... obviously they do look better when the lights are off but they are still plenty bright when all of the overhead lights are on in the garage.  I have the LED's pointing towards the back of each ring instead of straight up so basically the area of the ring that is most visible is also the area that has the most LED light being shined on it.  I know the LED-Wiz supports OCX controls but since I am using Flash I found just using the clipboard to be the easiest solution... then I just send commands to the clipboard and access premade files for each ring (like "ring40_rainbow.lwa" or "ring20_fade_iceblue.lwa").  You can also do commands that change all or just some of the rings at once so I really haven't hit any limitations from using the clipboard.

Not sure if that was at all helpful, but it's awesome to see your machine come together!

Thanks, that's what I was wondering about.  I thought your ramp lights were computer controlled.  I may just ignore them for now.  If I do eventually get ramp lights and computer control them, I'll let you know how I do it.
Sadly, I bought a LEDWiz+GP, which only has 16 outputs, and I'll need at least 21 to light up all the holes alone, even without the ramp. 

[Noshbomb]

What an awesome project!

[Entropy42]

I also wanted to ask you how you did the wiring for your LED light strips.  I've been looking into this, but it looks like its going to be about 3 A for each side of the lane.  I want to control the lane lights with an LEDWiz, but it will only drive 500 ma per channel.  The LED strips I'm finding on Ebay (60 leds/meter, RGB) are also 12V instead of 5V.  I'd love to know how you control them.  Some sort of relay?

You could control the leds with power transistors, probably have to be PNP since the ledwiz outputs the ground when the output is on. One power transistor per side should work, and it doesnt matter if the led strip is 5 or 12 volts. LED wiz turns on the transistor, transistor turns on the leds.

I missed this post earlier.  Thanks for the idea.

Regarding this build, I noticed a while back you said you weren't sure how to do the edges of your netting.  What I did for mine was just trim the nylon relatively close to the edge, and then burn every single cut point with a small butane torch.  The nylon melts up nicely and won't fray.  To attach it to the framing, I actually wove the framing through the holes in the net on the top half of the framing, but you can't do that to all sides and still have tight netting, so I just spiraled some white yarn around the bottom edge to attach the netting.  Honestly, with how much work it was to weave the net through the framing, I would just recommend using a matched color yarn/rope on all sides.  You can barely tell the difference between the 2 methods once its done (you can look at my pics to see the difference yourself) and one method is just way more work.

Would you consider making your software an open source project on Github or something?  I've gotten mine functional, but its never going to look as nice as yours, and I would honestly rather spend my time helping make yours better than making mine passable.

[samej71]

I also wanted to ask you how you did the wiring for your LED light strips.  I've been looking into this, but it looks like its going to be about 3 A for each side of the lane.  I want to control the lane lights with an LEDWiz, but it will only drive 500 ma per channel.  The LED strips I'm finding on Ebay (60 leds/meter, RGB) are also 12V instead of 5V.  I'd love to know how you control them.  Some sort of relay? 

I picked up some IRF9540 MOSFET transistors that I plan to use to control 100 RGB LEDs. You can do the same thing for controlling RGB strips (unless you get individually addressable LED strips, which is a totally different design). These particular MOSFETs handle up to 23 amps so they are plenty beefy. They also are fast enough to handle the PMW phasing required to allow RGB leds to reproduce all the various colors. They were relatively inexpensive: I picked up 10 for $7. Your controller (arduino, gpwiz, whatever) sends a signal to the MOSFET, which then lets the high-amp current flow, driving the LEDs. You'll need three, one for each of the channels (R, G, and B).

--James

[Entropy42]

That sounds like it would work well.  I was looking into some MOSFETs, but they required a control voltage of 9+ V.  Are they controllable with only a 5 V signal (which is what the LEDWiz puts out)?

[samej71]

Would you consider making your software an open source project on Github or something?  I've gotten mine functional, but its never going to look as nice as yours, and I would honestly rather spend my time helping make yours better than making mine passable.

I sincerely hope he does--and I hope he'll do it even if he doesn't think it's ready to be released (just mention it's still in development). Projects like this are never really "finished", are they? Seems like there is always one more tweak to do or something to clean up.

ThatPurpleStuff, please consider posting to github or bitbucket soon. We don't care if it is still buggy or unfinished--those that do care can wait to download when the 'final' release is available. The rest of us can deal with any hiccups and can download updates as they are released  

... Pretty please?



--James

[samej71]

That sounds like it would work well.  I was looking into some MOSFETs, but they required a control voltage of 9+ V.  Are they controllable with only a 5 V signal (which is what the LEDWiz puts out)?

Looking back, I posted the wrong part number. That doesn't have a Vgs(th) that will work with the LEDWIZ. I'll try to look later tonight or tomorrow and give you an updated part number.

[samej71]

That sounds like it would work well.  I was looking into some MOSFETs, but they required a control voltage of 9+ V.  Are they controllable with only a 5 V signal (which is what the LEDWiz puts out)?

Looking back, I posted the wrong part number. That doesn't have a Vgs(th) that will work with the LEDWIZ. I'll try to look later tonight or tomorrow and give you an updated part number.

The original part I posted should work but would require a complementary NPN transistor in a configuration akin to this: http://www.bristolwatch.com/ele/img/tr9a.gif

To use a direct part, check out the STP16NF06 N-channel MOSFET. Here is the data sheet:
http://www.st.com/internet/com/TECHNICAL_RESOURCES/TECHNICAL_LITERATURE/DATASHEET/CD00002848.pdf

It has a Vgs(th) [the threshold voltage for turning on and off] of 2.5V, which is perfect for something that uses a 5V signal.

You'll want to make sure it will handle the voltage and current you'll be drawing with your LEDs before ordering anything, though. If you are really only needing 3A then it should be fine (it is rated for 16A). Make sure your power supply can handle that kind of load. If you have an old unused junk computer laying around (or know someone that does), you can use the power supply with some minor wiring harness modifications to provide the necessary power if you didn't want to spend $20 for a new dedicated power supply.

AdaFruit sells the STP16NF06 for $1.25 each and recommends them for use with Arduino (5v PMW driving signal) to drive large loads.  https://www.adafruit.com/products/355  They even provide an example for using them to drive RGB LED strips. This is the middle of the tutorial, but it shows a breadboard with an Arduino wired up for the mosfets: http://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/usage
You would be doing something similar with the LEDWIZ, but please check specifications since I'm not sure off-hand what the LEDWIZ specs are or how wiring might be different with the LEDWIZ.

Using Octopart, looks like other places sell them starting at $.35 each, but I don't know what minimum quantities or shipping would cost.
http://octopart.com/partsearch#search/requestData&q=STP16NF06L

AdaFruit is good about helping with and teaching about what they sell, so if you don't mind paying a teeny bit more I definitely recommend them. They also provide a nice Fritzring library of their parts for people to use--another plus in my book for AdaFruit. (Fritzring is a free
virtual breadboard program, it does other things too, but I am currently using it to help lay things out and route wires. I believe AdaFruit used it to make the breadboard PNG used in the tutorial link I provided above.)

I think the STP16NF06 will work for you, but I am not an electronics guru and I encourage you to ask around/double-check before making any purchases for use with the LEDWIZ. Maybe RandyT can provide confirmation/feedback?

Good luck!

--James

[nickels]

Newbie here. The good news is that this thread has big-time inspired me. The better news is that I have written Flash games in the past. I have begun to take the ideas presented in this thread and make my own Flash based "brain" for a skeeball game that I will be building very soon.

I will write the various games in Flash with the ability to tweak and add more in the future. All the logic, ball counting, and scoring is done within Flash. The skeeball game itself will have minimal parts: scoring switches at each opening, a few extra buttons to control the menu system (up, down, and select buttons), an IPAC controller, a spare PC running the Flash program, and the monitor in the marque to display everything going on and to tie it all together.

I am new to a lot of this so it is all theory right now. I already have my Flash program set up to listen for key strokes. When a ball goes into a hole, the counter switch is activated, the IPAC sends this to the PC as a keystroke, and Flash does it thing based on the game. Is it really this easy? Different switches send different keystrokes to Flash. I can use buttons to control the menus, and the counter switches under the rings will count the balls thrown/tally the score.

My Flash program is currently in development. I WILL release it when it is fully working. This is a major project for me, but I plan on seeing it through. Unfortunately I will be stealing some game ideas from the OP with my own rule tweaks and original graphics. I also have ideas for other games using my interface.

In the future it would be nice to learn how to have Flash tell an Arduino to light up LEDS at specific times to make for some really intricate game possibilities. However, that goes well beyond the scope of my knowledge and I'll have my hands full just getting this working without interactive LED lighting.

Hopefully, I'll be back with good news within a few weeks. Time to get back to relearning Flash! This thread is amazingly helpful. Big thanks to all who have participated in it.

[Entropy42]

I think the STP16NF06 will work for you, but I am not an electronics guru and I encourage you to ask around/double-check before making any purchases for use with the LEDWIZ. Maybe RandyT can provide confirmation/feedback?

Good luck!

--James

Thank you very much for all the information.    It looks like exactly what we'd need to control these strips with the LEDWiz.

And yes, Nickels, it is as simple to control and detect balls as you've said.  I use an up/down and forward/back set of buttons on my Skeeball machine, and find it works really well for navigation.  I know this build only uses 3 buttons, but I would highly recommend the 4th.
One other thing that can be tricky is detecting a gutter ball.  The software solution is relatively simple though, as you just count up any ball that triggers the gutter switch that didn't trigger one of the top switches.

[PL1]

Welcome aboard, Nickels.

In the future it would be nice to learn how to have Flash tell an Arduino to light up LEDS at specific times to make for some really intricate game possibilities. However, that goes well beyond the scope of my knowledge and I'll have my hands full just getting this working without interactive LED lighting.

Not sure how well the code for a Minimus AVR will work with an Arduino, but you may want to ask Degenatrons about how to flash external LEDs.

He already has a similar function built into his AVR Encoder to show what Group and Mode it is in (See Group F on the keymaps -- external LED) and the KADE has an LED Sequence (Demonstration) firmware driving 12 external LEDs.

He might be a little busy with the KADE rollout for the next month or so, but drop him an e-mail (your PMs will enable after you post several times more) or post questions about the AVR Encoder LED code in this thread or this thread once KADE officially releases.

Per the KADE team, source code for KADE will not be released until up to 90 days after the KADE release date, but once the source code is released, it will be open-source.   


Scott

[thatpurplestuff]

DaOld Man- Thanks buddy!

samej71- While I do still intend on releasing the finished software at some point, I don't think I will ever be releasing the source as this software has literally taken weeks of my life to develop and I'm not comfortable with the idea of someone potentially being able to slightly tweak it and monetize it.  Not at all implying that anyone here would do so, but once the source is on the net I'd pretty much have zero control over what is done with it.

Entropy42- I originally had 4 buttons, but I never found myself using the "back" button.  I've kept the menu depth to 1 layer so the only time I would want to have a "back" option would be to cancel out of a game, which I have instead made a shortcut by holding both the up and down buttons at the same time to exit a game.  The up and down buttons also serve as High Score and Info buttons for each game which works out pretty cool... I was really going as minimal as possible when creating the interface but obviously it's a matter of personal preference.

nickels- Yeah honestly once you nail down the basic framework of scoring detection, ball counting, bounce delays, and gutter checks Skeeball is a pretty simple game when you boil it down... even the variations aren't really all that complicated.  Easily the most time consuming part thus far has been tweaking the aesthetics of the games.  The actual scoring code requires very little tweaking once it is done and quite a few of my game modes are just modified versions of another mode.  Don't worry about stealing ideas for game modes, if I had wanted to keep them secret I wouldn't have posted them here haha.  In regards to complicated lighting effects, I haven't hit any scenarios in which using the clipboard has limited the functionality... one game mode simulates a carnival "Test Your Strength" meter and the ring lights change accordingly, and since the LEDwiz software supports loading files with premade LED actions as well as pulse, sawtooth, dimming and checks the clipboard 10+ times a second it ends up being very versatile.  Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

PL1- Been watching Degenatrons KADE thread with an interest... looks pretty freakin awesome!



No updates on the build right now... been focused on new house stuff as well as designing an upcoming arcade cabinet build.  Will finish up cutting the leg covers when I start the arcade build so other than some minor tweaks and finishing the HORSE game mode, I am hoping to call this thing done by summer!

[nickels]

Trust me, you all will be sick of helping me out in no time. My main concerns after much research falls on the ramp shape and ring construction. I have read many threads across many sites, and it seems there has yet to be a consensus on the best/cheapest way to recreate the scoring rings. The ramp, cutting all that wood with a jigsaw and sanding it all into one smooth shape seems impossible for me. I may just stack some wood slats and fill the shape with bondo or wood filler.

My future skeeball machine will not be an attempt to replicate anything out there. I am shrinking the size to fit the room. The main rolling area will be under 8' so I can use one sheet of MDF or plywood. That will attach to the scoring section which will be about 3 feet for a total of 11 feet in length. I call it big kid sized. I am planing on using 1.75" wood balls for mine.

As for the Flash file, I have already begun but the relearning curve is getting me on some of the syntax and logic. It has been a few years since using the program regularly. Once I get one game working I am hoping the rest will fall into place. I can tell the amount of time going into programming this will equal or eclipse building the skeeball table. The way to make it public without giving away the code is to load all the variables via a text file. This way, anyone can change all the keys to suit their needs, but the main code will be locked inside the swf file. One example of an alternative skeeball game would be The Shootout - ala Ice Hockey. The goalie only has one opening per ball, such as the 40 hole. Any other hole is a save, hit the 40 hole for a goal. Two players can go head to head (3 shots per player, then it goes till someone wins) or as a one player game the computer will have a random score that the player needs to beat. The rules are still up in the air but you get the gist. I was also thinking about a poker game where the harder holes are better cards. Each player has 5 shots to make a hand and the best hand wins. Again, the rules and gameplay are still in my head taking shape. 

Finally, I understand this is a monster project that is beyond my skills. I like a challenge and hope to learn lots of new skills along the way. Sorry for the long winded posts. I will try to keep it shorter in the future!

[nickels]

I found a material that may work very well for the ring construction: Linoleum floor sheets.
They had a sample roll at my local Home Depot which was 9" tall by 12' long. They sold it to me for $7. I can cut this to the height and length needed for each ring. If I roll it inside-out the spongy material facing outwards is white. This seems like a really decent material for the job, solid yet spongy, thin but not brittle. I may do a double loop to make the rings extra durable. I have enough material to make a bunch of extra rings and replace them as needed. I am riveting the ends together and these easily make perfectly round shapes without much hassle.

As for my flash game, the basic one player version of Skee ball is almost finished. The game keeps score, ignores double hits, keeps track of how many balls were thrown, and is really just the foundation for all of the future games. I should be done with the graphics this week and have a working sample ready to go.

Time to finalize the skee ball machine design, buy some wood, and start on this beast of a project!

[nickels]

I think that I found the material the OP used on his rings:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_63426-33674-F40CT4P018_0__?productId=3106277

I purchased this tiny sample sheet and it is perfect. On the ends I attached a curved metal bracket with rivets to make a circle. That technique was more hassle than it is worth. Take two I just overlapped the edges and use two rivets. This material easily makes a perfect circle this way and it is very sturdy. Looks exactly like a real skeeball ring.

EDIT: here is a 50' roll - wayyyyy too much material IMO:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_234342-33674-FC540CT4P018_0__?productId=3083219&Ntt=baby%27s+breath+wall+base&Ns=p_product_price|0

I calculated that you need for about 20' or so depending on your table size. I'll just buy six 4' segments for under $15. 

[thatpurplestuff]

I think that I found the material the OP used on his rings:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_63426-33674-F40CT4P018_0__?productId=3106277

I purchased this tiny sample sheet and it is perfect. On the ends I attached a curved metal bracket with rivets to make a circle. That technique was more hassle than it is worth. Take two I just overlapped the edges and use two rivets. This material easily makes a perfect circle this way and it is very sturdy. Looks exactly like a real skeeball ring.

Yup, that was the brand/color but in the local store they had it available by the roll instead of small strips.  It was ~20'-30' in a box and allowed me to make the larger rings without having to use multiple pieces.  I tried metal bracks as well and I found nothing that worked better than just doubling the molding over itself and attaching with rivets.  The final rings are very sturdy and I have had zero issues with their durability... if I had to list one complaint it would be that they eventually get scuffed on the inside and since it isn't a glossy surface the dirt doesn't really come off easily.  Otherwise they are perfect though.

[Xiaou2]

There might be a clear sealant that could help.

 However, you could at least use something like F21 or Armor all.  It would also help to keep the balls cleaner.

 

[nickels]

Here is my first Flash skeeball controller ready and working. It is Version 1.0 - I am still going to tweak the graphics a bit more. Ignore the debugging screen that pops up ant the very beginning. I'll remove that completely when I am done working on it.

http://www.johnkalnin.com/skee/skeeball.html

The controls are as follows. Use the number keys on the top of your keyboard (I can customize both the key pressed and the value of the points in the code):
Keys
1,2 - 100 points (I wasn't sure if I can wire two switches to the Ipac so I made two 100 key listeners)
3 - 50 points
4 - 40 points
5 - 30 points
6 - 20 points
7 - 10 points
8 - 0 points (gutter ball switch. optional)
When the game ends after the 9th ball the "s" key resets the game.

You cannot double press the keys to accidentally mess up your score - as I hear some switches send double hits occasionally. Once a key is press the Flash listener is removed for a few seconds, so any other inputs are temporarily ignored. This delay is adjustable in the code. To see how long the delay lasts just hold down one of the number keys and watch the time it takes for the score to change. At the end of the game it is only listening for the "s" key, it will ignore all scoring keys until the game is reset.

Sorry to hijack this thread. I will start my own thread shortly. This conversation was my original inspiration and where I learned everything I am doing to get my skee ball table up and running. Thanks for the invaluable advice and information to everyone who chimed in along the way.

[edizzle]

I hope this topic and build is still active, as this is one of the projects I've been most excited to see in a while!  I love the craftsmanship of the table...I love the flash games, the led controlled lighting...everything!  After coming across this build, I know I must build one, which my wife does not love...in fact, she hates it!

OP, if you're still working on it (it looked like you were pretty busy with other things in your last few posts) is that horse game you mentioned like the ones at the fair?  Where you roll the ball into the holes with varying values to advance the horse?  If so, that is awesome!

Here's to hoping this thread is still alive and that ThatPurpleStuff's flash games may be available some time.  Just let me know where to send the money...really, it looks that good!

[thatpurplestuff]

Thanks for the kind words everyone and sorry for not responding sooner... this build is definitely still active, progress has just slowed to a crawl with my baby girl coming into the world this past September.  As proof that I haven't completely dropped off the planet, here's a video of the current Free Skee software.  I literally tried to record this 3 times and goofed it the first two... for some reason this third one doesn't have any audio at all and the framerate is very low but you'll get the idea.  The blue instruction screen is pulled up by pushing the up arrow on the machine... it stays on the screen as long as the button is held.  Each game also has a high score list that is accessed by pushing down, and again lasts as long as someone is holding the button down.

I also removed the "glow" effects from the scoreboards since they were bogging down the speed on my machine, but I will probably re-add more subtle, less processor intensive glow effects in the future.  All of these games are playable except for Shuuz, which is going to be a game like horseshoes.  Horskee still needs some polish, mainly just having it indicate whose turn it is on the screen.  Also not stoked with how Stack 'Em looks right now and will be making some changes.



Hardware-wise, I purchased some 4x4 PVC sleeves and have one of the legs cut, just need to cut the rest and paint them.  Having some issues with some misfiring of the right 100 ring... gotta pull it apart and see what's what.

Edit: Just noticed that bowling isn't scoring strikes correctly in the 10th frame... thought I had fixed that but apparently not haha

Edit #2: Nevermind, the reason 3 strikes only scored 30 points was because it was the 10th frame.  Been a long time since I coded that game and I forgot the rules.

[samej71]

Just watched the latest video. That looks fantastic! Great job on the software and graphics.

I'm very much looking forward to a release.

--James

[DarakuTenshi]

I couldn't help but smile the whole time I looked through your progress on this. Especially once I ended up seeing the ingenious behind the multiple games... This is more than skeeball this is awesome!