Very nice. I should be able to get the cabinet connectors plugged in tonight. The playfield is on the roto.

Thanks.

That happened to me and it turned out to be a switch near the ball trough under the PF. I’d bent it when lowering the PF once I sorted that it never happened again.

My hologram is too bright

0C85EE5E-A00C-466B-BB22-BC4169327CD4 (resized).png

The manuals (https://www.mamechannel.it/files_free/arcade_manuals_unpacked/cftbl_l4.pdf) have a section that details the connections in the backbox (on each board). There is an image with connector labels followed by listing of which are used and the associated wire colors for each pin. You can use this to match up the connectors to their proper location. Section 3 "Game Wiring and Schematics". Here's an example from the manual.
pasted_image (resized).png

Be careful - on early 90s Bally Williams J124 and J132 on the power board are keyed alike / interchangeable. Getting them mixed up can have nasty results - I talk from bitter experience

Original creatue holgram appears to be black now. Anyone making any reproductions at this time? Cant seem to find any online.

Just a heads up to anyone considering a insert decal set from Pinball.Centre in Germany. Do not do it, it comes printed on vinyl and not water slide paper. The print quality is poor and grainy, the colours are also off by a mile.

Save your time and money and look elsewhere.

Anyone rocking a PIN2DMD in their CFTBL running my colour project should look into getting the new version I just uploaded to VPUniverse - upgraded to 64 colour with a lot of sparkle and sexy dithering, and fixed all those nasty bugs. Now with full 4 player support, overall it's a much more polished experience. You will need to be running v4+ firmware, any problems getting onto VPU then reach out and I'm sure I can provide an alternative link.

cftbl_title.gif

Thanks for all the kind comments and support over the years from everyone who reached out, especially in relation to this game. I hope you all enjoy this much needed update - stay cool, daddy-o!

Please contact me via PM for real pin files.

I downloaded the latest .zip file but the date on the pin2dmd.pal file (which I think is what I have to copy to my SD card) says June 22, 2019. Is this correct or am I somehow getting the original file? Thanks so much for this work, I love the original and can't wait for this update!

UPDATE! I was looking in the wrong place (twice!), the correct file is here:

https://vpuniverse.com/forums/files/file/7707-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-64-colour-real/

Now to get it installed...

Ooh thanks very much slippi I’ll have to download and give it a go

Just to be clear, the real pin files can be downloaded from the following URL.

https://vpuniverse.com/forums/files/file/7707-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-64-colour-real/

Definitely don't use the vpin files; it won't do any harm, but it won't work either You need to replace both the pin2dmd.pal and pin2dmd.fsq files on your SDCARD with the same two files from the zip. Sorry for the confusion/not including the link earlier - there was a slight delay getting the files approved.

Should also mention that if any of you are lucky enough to be using an HD (256x64) panel, I also have a one-off special HD version with a new title screen that fixes the auto scaled title text. It won't work on standard displays so it is not currently publicly available to avoid people using the wrong files on their machines - drop me a PM and I can send you that version if needed!

Please contact me via PM for real pin files.

Update: uploaded and looking great. Noticeable from the power on and start up. Fingers crossed the combo bonus animations fixed where the colour dragged behind the car frames …. And it is. Awesome work. Thankyou

Thanks for the update, Slippi, it looks amazing!

I am sure this is as amazing as your other colour projects. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended!!

Where do you order the color2dmd from? Is it cheaper than color dmd.coms?

I'm not sure what color2dmd is, but if you mean Pin2DMD, it is more or less a homebrew solution you can order at VPUniverse (there is a link up above). It is more complicated than installing a ColorDMD, more steps, but it has the capability to surpass it. The new CFTBL uses a huge array of colors you can't get on a ColorDMD job, as nice as those are. However, it's a lot more steps to get there. Hit up VPUniverse (which is mainly for virtual pinball emulation, but you're in the right place) and read about it there.

Thanks, that’s what I meant. I’ll go to vpuniverse to see how to get one and cost

Working on it.

83773565-F0FD-42E1-A6A0-2F2BE10700D3 (resized).png

Here’s a Pinside thread with a LOT of
Info:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pin2dmd-led-color-dmd-user-colorization-projects

lucky1 is THE. MAN. In terms of Pin2DMD. Dude is on fire

Awesome slippifishi ! Thank you soooo much! I cannot wait to install this!

Please contact me when they are ready.

For folks in Canada, see Dino here:

https://www.pinballrevolution.com/threads/pin2dmd-replacement-colour-led-dmd-panels-128x32-smaller-de-128x16-panels-and-larger-192x64-also-available.9685/

I got my display from him, plug and play with excellent install support.

I'm also doing an HD pin2dmd build (256x64) at the moment, which includes updated speaker panel and graphics. Still have two left I think on the current round.

https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/size-matters-adventures-with-the-new-hd-pin2dmd-256x64.50621

You are very welcome Fifty - I am glad you saw this, it was people like you who were far too kind in their comments about that mess of a 16 colour project that really inspired me to go back I am positive you will be much happier.

Truth be told I am aware of one missing frame in the hotdog/teeth chasing sequence that may break it for a fraction of a second so there will be a very small update in a week or two - I will wait a few more days and see if anything else crops up first. Also very interested to hear if anyone is running this on a rom other than L-4 and if they are experiencing any issues, so please do reach out to me if that is the case.

Wow - excellent work Davey!!

I have Pinball Center holo. It does the job but that's it. It does not have the same depth than the original (the creature is taken from farther away, and the hands do not reach out to the player as I've seen in others machines). But it's much cheaper than the original, and most importantly... available...

But if I understand correctly, these 256x64 HD panels require a modified speaker panel, right ?

[EDIT] Of course they do, seen the message from stumblor
Oh well, guess I know what I have to do now...

Stunning work Davey Creech looks amazing with the larger display.

I was changing some bulbs in the backbox and noticed that one of the lights that spell out CREATURE would not work because the resistor was burnt out. Can someone help me with the replacement resistor?

Resistor? Do you mean diode? Can you take a picture of what you’re referring to?

I will take a picture tonight. I figured it was a resistor but I guess it could be a diode. I cant seem to find any schematics or part numbers to tell me what it is.

Wait till you see it with Slippi's updated graphics mate. It's pure candy. Will post another video of that in the next few days.

Of course, the issue now is the same as with the colordmd - once you do it to one machine.....

Yeah you'll be looking at a diode. Little black thing with grey on one side. 1N4004 or 1N4007 is the part number, just grab them from ebay (grab a pack, you'll use them again). Make sure you put it back in with the grey side facing the same way as before.

Awe! slippifishi I'm flattered, and a little embarrassed at the same time. Still, I'm very happy you went back and revisited this. I am really looking forward to installing it and giving you my full review. Your colour selection was awesome with the original, so I'm sure you rocked this version out! I have L-5 installed so I'll let you know if I see anything or if anything funky happens. I need to figure out how to upgrade my firmware first. Dino over at PinRev has already pointed me to the upgrade process. I think I'm using the standard pin2dmd 128x32. Your new colour files will work with this right?

What?! stumblor I thought I was all caught up on your tinkering. I was on your website the other day and didn't see this! You need a "in development" area, or "concept" area like car manufacturers. Off to start reading...

I’m running it on the rev5 rom and haven’t noticed any issues so far. That said my games have been short as I’ve been watching the animations

Yeah the irony... We spend tons of money to upgrade our DMDs, whereas we actually seldom watch them during gameplay (and this is even more relevant on modern games with LCD screens and fancy animations, which I never get to see since I'm the only one playing and I never watch the screen except when it's quiet !!)

OK, I might be slightly exagerating, but you see my point

one of the things I love most about this game is the way the game stops for a few seconds when you start multiball. The movie starting and the music is just so captivating

100% agree ..... Its so atmospheric

Fuse 111 blew and had no solenoid power... Replaced it and now everything works but with very low power... all TP pins measure correctly except TP6 which should give a 70 to 75V reading but only reports 20V... (sufficient to make things move but not enough to eg eject a ball) Fuses F101 to F105 are ok. F112 has a 6.3V (SB) fuse instead of 7V fuse (SB) but can't imagine this would be the reason of low voltage... anyone ideas ?

Check all the other solenoid fuses on the right hand side of the power board. A blown one on that side can cause the high voltage line to run low (can't remember which)

I changed F111 / 113 / 114 for new ones. (right Amp levels)
Same for F112 but only had a 6.3A SB while it should be a 7A SB. Do you think this can have an impact ?

No won't be that. I'll check the schematic tomorrow and have a bit more of a think.

I am having a problem with the left flipper sticking "on". I think I have traced it to the spring around the shaft shown in the photo, I think the coils of the spring are locking up when it is compressed (I think there may be two springs on top of each other). Checking the manual I don't see any spring in the diagram or parts list yet it is present on both flippers and also on my Diner machine. Is a spring needed in this location?

IMG_5764 (resized).JPG

The manual is correct, there is no spring installed on the coil plunger on CFTBL. The smaller outer spring (on the crank) is all that's required to return the flipper.

Diner (attached image) has the previous generation flippers which do use a coil plunger spring, but no smaller outer spring.

pasted_imageddd (resized).png

Get that larger spring off there and you'll be good.

While you have the coil off to pull that spring out you might as well pop in a new coil sleeve too.

And while you're at it, remove them from Diner too (and apply a WPC type spring instead). They have always been a bad design, for this exact reason.

And don't just take my word for it..
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers#post-284661

So I've had a bit of a look through the schematics, and there's really not that many components that could be the cause of it. I still have a suspicion its one of the fuses (might be worth checking these again), otherwise the only thing it could be is the the bridge rectifier at BR3 or the cap at C8. My guess is the bridge rectifier.

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_WPC#Low_Coil_Voltage

Is there a way to test br3 without removing the board from the backbox?

Testing things in circuit is always troublesome, since the component reading will be affected by everything it's connected to. When you're testing TP6, effectively you *are* testing the outputs of the bridge rectifier - however as I said, this isn't a true test. The only other test you could do would be to continuity buzz the diodes (AC -> DC legs), but again, when doing this in circuit it will lead to confusing results, and you'd need to board out to do it anyway since BR3 is covered by a massive heat sink.