Custom Pinball FX2 controller - eventually a cabinet ....

[SpaceHedgehog]

I'm so taken with Pinball FX2, I've decided to build a cabinet for it. It won't be a traditional style but will embrace the fact this is video pinball. I hope for it to be 3D compatible. I'll be starting with the controller first.

The basic, main design elements will be as follows:

-Based off a 360 wired controller (already hacked and soldered)
-Provide nudge capability
-Incorporate a touchpad for menu navigation
-Include a plunger

Just to give an idea as to what this will look like. Rough concept:



The sides and the nudge bar will be covered in black PlastiDip - a durable rubberised finish.

The remainder of the case will be covered in blackboard vinyl. It has this finish:



The artwork will have clear acrylic over the top

The plunger will be made from a modified balltop joystick

The touchpad I have bought for this project:



The nudge bars will be pushed forwards to activate. Tension will be applied using secateur springs (also purchased):



The mechanisms for the nudge bar and the plunger will be explained later. Hopefully my designs for these will work out

[PL1]

Interesting idea on the nudge bars, but I'm not sold on pushing forward to nudge sideways.   

Most pinball games allow left, right, and up nudge.

One of the guys on VPForums.org used a floating lockdown bar and 3 microswitches.


Scott

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks for that PL1, I'll investigate. FX2 does allow you to nudge up and left / up and right (as far as I'm aware). It's still a concept and modification shouldn't be too much of an issue. 

[SpaceHedgehog]

Started this today. Buttons and springs have arrived. Still waiting for the touchpad ...



Will post some more progress later.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Nudge bars have been completed with a routed beveled top:





Will be working on the main box section next.

[PL1]

Looks like there is an equivalent to Up Nudge in Pinball FX2.

-- From an overview of the program

The controls are pretty simple: left control key to activate left flipper, right control key to activate right flipper, Left alt to nudge to left, right alt to nudge right, and space to tilt the board.

I'm guessing that "tilt" is intended to mean "momentarily change the angle of the playfield" instead of "stop gameplay due to excessive nudging".   

There are also several mentions of X- and Y-axis nudging on the Pinball FX forum.


Scott

[SpaceHedgehog]

Hi Scott, thanks for the info. It's possible to nudge up and left at the same time and up and right at the same time using the directional pad on the 360 controller. I'll be wiring up the nudge bars to simulate that movement.

Am I missing something in terms of simulation? Have I got it all wrong if I'm doing that?

[SpaceHedgehog]

Pictures showing the position the nudge bars will be when deactivated and activated. Still need to tidy the cuts on the top panel up a little.

[PL1]

Am I missing something in terms of simulation? Have I got it all wrong if I'm doing that?

What throws me off is that the proposed actuation angle of your nudge bar does not correspond to the proposed direction of nudge.

On your design, if you are pushing straight back (0 degrees) on the nudge bars to get back/right (45 degrees) or back/left (315 degrees), the on-screen vector of the nudge doesn't match the force applied.   

If you were to do a 0 degree nudge on a real pinball table, you would expect the ball to travel straight forward and back.

If you nudged the right side at 90 degrees, you'd expect the playfield to slide a bit to the left under the ball resulting in the ball going a bit to the right due to inertia.

Same thing reversed for the left side -- a 270 degree nudge would result in the ball going a bit left on the playfield.

If the table responds 45 degrees different from the real thing, it takes away from the suspension of disbelief like a kick-you-in-the-balls-obvious glaringly unrealistic special effect shot in a movie. like the Lord of the Rings "shield surfing" and "elephant climbing/surfing" scenes.   


Scott

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks for the response / rationale PL1. I understand what you're saying so I'll try to make the nudge bars work in 2 different directions, pushed in from the sides and pushed forwards. I'll map these to the corresponding nudge movements. Hopefully this will work!

That comment about the shield surfing made me laugh (and also made me re-evaluate)!

[SpaceHedgehog]

I though this would take a bit of engineering and it's proving to be the case. Still, I'm quite please with how it's turning out. I still need to shape and adjust things a little but it's giving me confidence that it's going to work.

Progress today:

Front piece cut and shaped:



Frame for the spring loaded mechanism:



Spring retaining hole (I'll probably make this deeper and glue a washer in it):



Secateur springs in place (I had to get someone to help me with this due to the strength on them):



View from the top:



It's a decent fit at the moment. The nudge bars will need to be adjusted to allow a small range of movement (about 5mm). Still, it's looking good.

Any expansion gaps will be filled in with expanding foam tape so it should look nicely finished when done.

[SpaceHedgehog]

My touchpad arrived today. Looks like it's going to fit the bill perfectly. I'm not taken with the light coloured triangle in the corner so may cover the touch area in black vinyl. I tried it out to see whether it still functions and there are no issues with it.



Also ordered a shooter. The Balltop joystick idea wont work out as the shaft isn't a uniform width. I need to investigate hooking the pad up to a slide potentiometer as someone else has done. I can get away with soldering but electronics isn't my strong suit. If anyone can throw in some advice, I'd really appreciate it.



I only get to work on projects at the weekends unfortunately ...

[PL1]

I need to investigate hooking the pad up to a slide potentiometer as someone else has done. I can get away with soldering but electronics isn't my strong suit.

Hate to break it to you, but a slide potentiometer connected to the shooter will almost certainly not last long due to the forces involved.

They aren't designed to handle the speed, the number of back-and-forth oscillations, or the friction/binding it will generate -- the shooter spring moves it too hard and too fast.

IIRC someone from VPForums.org designed a potentiometer shooter several years ago from a long-life pot like the ones in the SW yoke and a lever arm/loop setup.

The downside is the amount of space required for the swinging arm.

Another option is the laser gaming mouse hack in my sig.

If you can port that hack to the Z-axis, it would be perfect.


Scott

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks for your input and ideas with this project Scott, it's appreciated. I'll have to re-evaluate the shooter config. I have another idea for implementing this as a backstop. I'll check out your hack also as that sounds like a great suggestion. I'll also look into a virtuapin plunger at some point (it's unsupported within PFX2 at present though).

I've never minded modifying my builds ... the Vewlix cab took 3 years to get to the position it's in today

[PL1]

If you're even considering the VirtuaPin, forget my hack.

Use one of the VirtuaPin inputs as a ball launch button and that should work for PFX2.

When I looked at the PFX2 forum, several people are already asking for VirtuaPin/Mot-Ion compatibility.   


Scott

[SpaceHedgehog]

I've added a retaining plate to keep the nudge bar level and also a corner stopper. The stopper helps the nudge bar to track in the correct directions when pushed in.

Now I need to do the other side ....

[SpaceHedgehog]

The sides have been shaped and routed along with the back of the top panel.

[Dizzle]

I really like the nudge bars. I don't think I've ever seen anything like them.  I also like the way you're embracing the video pinball aspect instead of going for the traditional pincab.  Can't wait to see the rest of this!

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks dizzle. I've not seen anyone do the nudge bar thing either. I hope there's not a good reason why that is!

Hope to start making the top piece soon. The buttons, trackpad and artwork won't be sunk into the top panel directly, but rather into a shaped frame. I'll use another 9mm or 12mm MDF piece for that. Thinking about backlighting the artwork but given my plans for the internals, it may not be possible. We'll see ....

[SpaceHedgehog]

Started work on the frame. The basic shape has been cut out. Insets for the artwork and touchpad will need to be cut out. The sides will be heavily beveled to help integrate into the panel better. The buttons will be in clusters of 4 either side of the touchpad. It will be finished with black Plastidip ... eventually.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Just throwing in a few progress pictures ...

[SpaceHedgehog]

Well this panel's taken most of the day to do but has turned out as well as I'd hoped:

Turns out that the trackpad is exactly the same depth as the MDF. It's always great when you get a break like that.

Front:



Back:



Close up of the beveling:



And the inset for the artwork:



I'll get some acrylic cut and do the artwork soon.

Edit: To give an idea what this will look like in place ...

[lettuce]

If you like Pinball FX, you'll love The Pinball Arcade as well, there currently doing a kickStarter to bring the Terminator 2 pinball table to the game...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1067367405/pinball-arcade-terminator-2-judgment-day

[kingchimp]

This is a really interesting twist on a virtual pinball controller, and it's looking really cool already.

I'll be keeping an eye on this.   

[SpaceHedgehog]

@lettuce - Hope that gets funded. Will be getting TBA when it's released soon. Also hoping that Pro Pinball gets funded. I loved that back in the day. Timeshock and Big Race USA were great.

@kingchimp - Thanks. I definitely wanted to do something a bit different with this build. I don't have enough space for a full size so the decision was made for me anyway. Too many things in my games room as it is. I need to rebuild/restyle my Race Simulator at some point and also finish off my Raptor cabinet.

[Generic Eric]

Nudge
/pinball joke

Say, humblebundle has 8 Pinball FX2 collections for $6.  What is the current state of this project?