(Topic ID: 287963)

Age Of Empires 2 DE pinball: A humble homebrew attempt

By Edenecho

3 years ago


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    There are 83 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
    #51 2 years ago

    Foamcore ramp sunday! A slightly complex ramp because on the middle part there must be hole for a up post activated by the player. This will divert the ball onto a ini spiral ramp to feed the left saucer. Didnt finish, will finish walls then duct tape it together to be smoother
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    #52 2 years ago

    Since in leaving for vacation soon i am putting extra effort into getting as much as possible done before that, so its been some intense days. I am tweaking the ramps, and have moved some ball guides, added captive ball and guides, drilled some new post holes erc.

    The last mini u-turn ramp around the upper captive ball is difficult to make with foam core so not sure how to test it. I think it can be a cool super fast shot if made correctly. We'll see.

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    #53 2 years ago

    looks like fun already

    2 weeks later
    #54 2 years ago
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    1 month later
    #56 2 years ago

    Pheeuw I havent had time to update since I came home from 3 weeks in france 5th august, but I have been making alot of progress since then. Ill try to sum it up in some posts now.

    In france i couldnt leave ut be fully, so I worked on the wiring schematic for the Ball trough and Ball eject VUK/Opto:
    I ended up not using the opto-distribution board but just powered the VUk opto boards with 5v and Ground.

    I also wired up slingshots and flippers and trough VUK coil, and with good help I tested the f48v power with a incandescent bulb first, to make sure it behaved as it should:

    I then wired up power to the flipper coil, added the switches and coils as a device in Mission Pinball Framework, and did the initial flips with the playfield up:

    And finally I wired up the slingshots and the ball trough, and did my first test flips on my own pinball machine. What a feeling. What a personal milestone for me!

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    #57 2 years ago

    UNFORTUNATELY, the joy was not to last.

    after living on the high of flipping my own game, I first wired up the LCD monitor to the 12V from power distribution board.
    Then I dived straight into wiring up the left 4 bank drop target and the reset coil.
    I did the switch wiring first, and will also make a schematic of how I wired it as it may help someone else. It is a Stern replacement part for Family guy I (I believe), and I had to figure out the schematics for it by looking at the Stern manual and wire up the connector. (stern, 520-5252-04)

    I added the device in MPF, and all drop targets registered correct. Then I went on to wiring up the Reset coil, and for this I had to draw 48v power from the power distribution board and into the B bank of the PD-16. I did all correctly as to my knowledge, and then i totally failed on the ast step.. plugging the power connector back into the power distribution board. It was dark back there, I thought I had hit the pins correct, powered it up...

    And the PD-16 just exploded. well, the two chips on it at least. Apparently I had misplaced the connector and put it one pin too high, causing 48v to be sent into Ground. Such a stupid fucking noob mistake, and could have been avoided by triple checking. Evenworse, it also killed my p3-roc.

    So a expensive and bitter lesson learned, but an important one. So I orded p3-roc and pd-16, and while waiting I worked on the top of the playfield...

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    #58 2 years ago

    Noooo ... damn ! Don't give up - we all want to see you finish the game ! Maybe I'll even pop over to Oslo once you have it going

    #59 2 years ago

    oh no...that sucks.
    how long does it normally take that your order arrives?

    don't let it get you down. something like that is bound to happen at some point in such a complex project.
    But really good progress!
    everything after that will be just cool tinkering .

    #60 2 years ago

    I am not done with updating, just needed a break, ill continue now
    I received the new boards on monday, just struggling with second dose vaccine side effects.

    But I took the boardplosion as a good lesson, and im motivated as never before

    #61 2 years ago

    Alright, so while waiting for new boards I realized I needed a 3d-printer to make prototyping ball guide brackets, ramps, wireform brackets, toys etc easier,so I bought a Creality CR6-SE, and after some initial struggles I got it up and running, and its been insanely valuable.

    I printed alot of ball guide brackets and wireform brackets. Then I bought piano wires, cutting and bending them with varying success but it really worked conceptually, see this video:

    I then totally redid the ideas for the right return of the center ramp, deciding to make it into connecting wireform ramps, and It really works well:

    A friend of mine working with car restoration helped me out with the ball guides, by cutting 1 meter strips of them, and it flows sooo much better than the crappy lethaly sharp steel guides i cut myself, and the ball guide brackets really helps with holding them in place. the ball flows much smoother around the orbits, left C-lane and the center spinner lane. Psyched!

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    #62 2 years ago

    And lastly, what I did last week was working on both center ramp, slingshots with improvised ball stop and the playfield back panel.

    At a local woodstore, i had a look at the leftover cuts which i could have what I wanted for free, and found a reflective black wood piece with perfect height (15 cm) which i brought home and cut to correct width, and installed L-brackets to fasten it to the payfield. I also have designed an initial ramp in 3d, which I printed and attached to it. I then took it off and cut out holes for both the center ramp and the wireform on the rght side.

    I have modelled a "ramp"/horizontal subway for the back of the panel which will lead the ball from the center ramp down to the right wireform, and im currently waiting for a friend who will split the model up so I can print it. Hope my measurements are correct!

    Lastly I also bought and installed playfield support brackets, for making my life abit easier and not having to lean all on slingshot brackets.
    Oh yes, I also customized slingshots with a ball stop for the wireform, as I struggle to bend them in the correct circle:

    I was recommended by Scott Danesi to use Mutimorphic power entry board instead of the replacement power distribution board, and also because it might be more designed for my setup and with better "key" placements, preventing stupid guys like me to plug them in wrong hehe.
    So I have drawn new schematics on how to wire it up, and will hopefully star the wiring this weekend.

    PHEUW! Its fun, obsessive and there is always something to do

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    #63 2 years ago

    Wow! Amazing work! First I've seen this thread. So it has been quite the journey.

    AoE2 is easily one of the best RTS games. Still play it with my friends occasionally.

    Can't wait to see the rest of the progress on this game. Cheers!

    #64 2 years ago

    Yes yes yes!! So cool wow love it the ramp that feeds into the wireramp is really cool! So much cool new stuff

    #65 2 years ago

    Looking great! Bummer bout the boards. Usually only takes one of those mistakes tho lol.. I blew up my main board when a pinball dropped on it off the playfield and shorted 5v and 12v. Quickly built a one I protector for the board after that lol

    #66 2 years ago

    I finally got the three parts for the backpanel subway for the center ramp printed. It is not pretty and will need tweaking, but it kinda works and was cool to seeing something i created myself work

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    #67 2 years ago

    I have designed the models for the left side ramp in Solidworks, and it is an interesting interconnected ramp of plastic parts and wireforms.
    The lower plastic part has a hole for the diverter up post (activated by pressing the action button) which will divert the ball into the leeft saucer.
    Still need to figure out those wireforms, if it works, but the ramp in itself is looking good and seems to work

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    #68 2 years ago

    Love it!!!! Following

    #69 2 years ago

    I modelled and 3d-printed the ramp entry, and it fits good enough to the rest of the ramp. The first curve of the ramp could be prone to some rejects if hit direct, so I used one of the steel guides and bent a smoother curve, and holy fuck! Its so fast and smooth

    #70 2 years ago

    A milestone is reached! After getting new boards, and rewiring them, and finishing wiring up all the switches and coils, the game is now fully playable..from a technical standpoint!!

    I talk about it and show some gameplay in the new Drain Talk episode I just released:

    Directlink to the video with out comments:

    #71 2 years ago

    Wow looks really good!
    Has a Nice flow to it

    #72 2 years ago

    Great work. I haven’t checked in, in months, but the progress looks great. I can’t wait to see the finished product.

    #73 2 years ago

    Hey, those rail guides look like mine!

    I eventually picked up one of these handy wire-benders (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZBRSCW/) to give nice clean 90-degree turns on the rails, made life a lot easier. But I still haven't found a good way to get them exactly the right length after bending, so if you solve that one please share!

    1 week later
    #74 2 years ago

    Ive been travelling for some weeks, tournaments in austria and sweden, but that has given me time to rethink some ddsign and solve some shoyøts differently. First, i will try to change the upper captive ball into a vertical captive ball. When hit, the ball should roll up and hit a switch (need to figure out the mounting), and it will resemble a tower in age of empires 2. Just to try something different

    Due to the left saucer being to far to the left, the kicker coil shoots the ball straight up and down, so i designed a small curved flap until next CNC, hope it helps.

    Lastly, due to space and practicality, i added a cross playfield wireforms from the left mid ramp, so when te up post diverts the ball it will go into right saucer, instead of curving around into upper left saucer. At least for this cnc version.

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    #75 2 years ago

    Since im currently 3d printing with black filament, it gets very dark in the upper part of the playfield, so i decided to paint the vertical captive "mech", disguised as a tower from Age of empires 2. Also for the visual effect of course

    I 3d printed the tower head, painted both and glued them together. I might consider making the tower base slightly higher for added effect. But happy with the first paint

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    #76 2 years ago

    Abit more painting, this is temporary as the ramps will be redone later but it makes it even more inspiring with some creative touches

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    #77 2 years ago

    looks really cool!

    #78 2 years ago

    Thanks,! I am slowly working on MPF, but its alot to learn and understand, so will spend much time on the rules. But im tweaking some shots at the same time. Exciting times going to order some rgb leds to add GI and start playing with that too.

    #79 2 years ago

    Do you have a link where you got the 4 bank of drop targets from? I can't seem to find them, only 3 and 5. Which is weird since Stranger Things just came out with a 4 bank...

    Thanks!

    #80 2 years ago
    Quoted from atum:

    Do you have a link where you got the 4 bank of drop targets from? I can't seem to find them, only 3 and 5. Which is weird since Stranger Things just came out with a 4 bank...
    Thanks!

    Of course, I struggled with the same, but found that the Stern parts reseller in Germany sells this:

    https://www.stern-spareparts.de/en/assy-4-bank-drop-target-500-7204-01_33104_4660

    Expensive as fuck, but..when one needs, one needs.

    #82 2 years ago

    Got tired of the black background on pf panel, so printed and attached some graphics just to get more inspired

    Also i figured out how to wire up a opto pair, so thats one less issue and uncertainty out of the way.

    Now almost all shots are wired up, what remains is the inner lock ramp, and adding a single drop target.

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    #83 2 years ago

    This looks really like that the outcome will be a great machine. Also the theme has a lot potential Keep on the great work

    There are 83 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.

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