(Topic ID: 91457)

F14 Tomcat : Second Sortie - custom development and rebuild

By Snux

9 years ago


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  • Latest reply 1 year ago by Snux
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There are 456 posts in this topic. You are on page 6 of 10.
#251 9 years ago
Quoted from Curbfeeler:

I could see this being handy for having layers of modes and indicating which layer the player has completed

For the KILL inserts (ALPHA, BRAVO etc) which are going to be the mission/mode lamps, the plan is to have them something like

Off - mode not available
Flashing White - mode available to play
Steady Green - mode successfully completed
Flashing Green - mode in progress
Steady Red - mode failed

I also have these RGBs in the 1 thru 6 inserts, the central KILL insert (between the Rescue targets) plus the Release and RipOff inserts. Basically all the clear ones except the "Lites Release" at the top because I forgot No idea what I'm going to do with the colour possibilities in them though, will probably just leave them white until I think of something.

#252 9 years ago

Ahah, we have pinmame control of the RGB lamps

Spare fuses arrived yesterday, but I've been playing around with pinmame to have it talk to the Arduino when it wants to drive one of the playfield lamps that (in my machine) have been replaced by RGB inserts.

I needed to make a small tweak to the Arduino sketch so it can detect when it's being driven by pinmame instead of "Second Sortie" and then have it process direct lamp on/off rather than working with the 1/32 second schedule ticks. I will need to cycle back to that and tidy it a little later.

For pinmame, the code section I needed to adjust is written in C++, so I spent some time looking around the internet for some code to grab. In the end I took this :

http://playground.arduino.cc/Interfacing/CPPWindows

Basically just include the serial.h file, add around a dozen lines to the pinmame code that drives the P-ROC lamps to have it intercept the required lamps and send to the Arduino, job done

It keeps up just fine with all the other lamps, here's a picture of the pinmame "all lamps" test....

pm.jpgpm.jpg

#253 9 years ago

Very nice, Snux! It's fun to watch your progress.

Getting your RGBs working in pinMAME is fantastic!

- Gerry
http://www.pinballcontrollers.com

#254 9 years ago

Looking good so far.

For inspiration I would also suggest you check out the F14 Tomcat table "mod ZEDONIUS PHYSICS by skinooe v1.0" in/for Future Pin (if you have not yet done so). There are some great ideas there (music, sounds, DMD animations). I find the 1 multi-ball mode cool when it releases all the balls at once vs 1 at a time.

#255 9 years ago
Quoted from gstellenberg:

Getting your RGBs working in pinMAME is fantastic!

Thanks Gerry. Like most things, in the end the code change was simple. I'm just very rusty playing with C++ these days so it took longer than I wanted it to. Shoulda seen the grin on my face though when it all lit up

Quoted from LongJohns:

For inspiration I would also suggest you check out the f14 tomcat table "mod ZEDONIUS PHYSICS by skinooe v1.0" in/for Future Pin

Cool, that's new for me - thanks for the tip!! I've dropped a note to SLAMTILT to see if I could re-use some of the game assets somehow.

#256 9 years ago

I've got these alphanumeric (4 of 4 character) and numeric (2 of 4 digit) displays that are going on to the apron, and during my Second Sortie game they be used to indicate remaining fuel, alerts and things like that.

I'm trying to work out what to do with them if your playing the original game via pinmame. Leaving them blank seems a shame. Static information maybe. In the pinmame code I can't deduce much about the state of the game, so determining that a multiball is underway to do something I don't think will work. What I can detect is whether a specific lamp is on, or a switch closed, or if the flippers are enabled or disabled. I can maybe use the latter to add something to the standard attract mode, but maybe just leave the displays static during play. Any other ideas?

#257 9 years ago

Timer for ball in play?

#258 9 years ago
Quoted from Snux:

Any other ideas?

Grand champion score, or Points needed to reach grand champ (countdown)?

#259 9 years ago

You are a fountain of cool ideas! One day I hope you will make your code available for folks who might want to convert their own games...

#260 9 years ago
Quoted from sethbenjamin:

One day I hope you will make your code available

The code already is available, I keep it up to date and public on the github site here....

https://github.com/Snux/F14SecondSortie

If and when my code gets good enough and to the point where someone else want to do the same conversion, the hardware changes are quite extensive....

1 - P-ROC
2 - System 11 driver board for P-ROC
3 - Autolaunch
4 - Install RGB insert lamps, with Arduino to drive them.
5 - Install software on laptop/PC
6 - Install DMD display

Probably not for the faint hearted, but do-able if someone was keen enough.

#261 9 years ago
Quoted from Snux:

The code already is available, I keep it up to date and public on the github site here....
https://github.com/Snux/F14SecondSortie
If and when my code gets good enough and to the point where someone else want to do the same conversion, the hardware changes are quite extensive....
1 - P-ROC
2 - System 11 driver board for P-ROC
3 - Autolaunch
4 - Install RGB insert lamps, with Arduino to drive them.
5 - Install software on laptop/PC
6 - Install DMD display
Probably not for the faint hearted, but do-able if someone was keen enough.

Still cheap for those of us that want a second pin and that cannot afford a cheap DMD. Also great for guys like me with a wife that dislikes pinball. A conversion that costs less than $2K, but essentially gives me a second pin to play w/DMD. Totally worth it.

#262 9 years ago

Well, got me some more fuses and looks like I've got some digging to do. Got a couple of coils out (kickback and outhole), so that's likely a wiring issue somewhere. The top divertor is still binding, but that should be an easy fix.

Also non of my A/C switched flashers are working. I can't believe that I somehow managed to blow all the bulbs as they're new ones, and the A/C relay is fine as I can here it clicking back and forth. Hmm.

Did a first test fit of the displays on the apron too. They fit, with about 0.5mm of clearance on the playfield glass. Not looking too pretty at the moment though, will need to come up with something looking better soon.

#263 9 years ago

Quick (poorly recorded!) video of the attract mode running, showing the 16 RGB lit inserts working fine from pinmame. Also you can see the displays mounted on the apron. The Arduino sits nicely under the apron and hooks to the RGBs, the displays and the green radar ring. Sweet, if I do say so myself

#264 9 years ago

Still working through some niggles but made some good progress. Found that my 'C' side flashers not working was a pinmame problem, nothing else. It was related to some "tidy up" work I was doing, guess I should have taken more care

Anyway, all my coils/flashers are being driven fine now

A while ago, I bought a little shield board for my Arduino Nano to plug into, so I spent some time today making proper connectors for the wires which go to the RGB items and the apron displays. Previously I had a nasty rats nest of croc clips and jumpers wedged under the apron. Now it's much tidier...

ard.jpgard.jpg

1 outgoing connector to the playfield inserts, 1 to the radar ring, 1 to the apron displays. Then an incoming power feed and the USB connection to the PC. Job done

Tomorrow I need to do a few switch adjustments, then I need to play around with the autolaunch to see if I can get it kicking the ball reliably up to the divertor. Once that's all done, in theory I can put the glass back on and get back to some software. Can't wait

#265 9 years ago

Drawing nearer to completion. You must be getting excited. I hope that black gaffers tape comes off your apron without any problems. I wish I had time to mess with Arduino.

10
#266 9 years ago

Second Sortie is Alive

Almost everything is dialled in now, still a couple of targets to tweak and I need to make the little wire gate that sits in the ball trough as I can't find it, but other than that we're about there!!!! Pinmame is playing well and the Second Sortie code starts and is part playable until you lock a ball and then it crashes.

But YAYYYYYYYY!!!!

#267 9 years ago

This work is so incredible....you are master in electronics!

#268 9 years ago

It's looking great!

#269 9 years ago

Fabulous work on this! The radar ring and the rainbow kill inserts are great adds. They look like they were meant to be that way. So how hard is the hardest game in pinball with automotive clearcoat and a coat of wax?

#270 9 years ago

Awesome! can't wait to get home and watch your video!

#271 9 years ago

Looks really good- congrats! I know enough to understand exactly what it takes to accomplish this - amazing work and again, congratulations.

Very very nice.

#272 9 years ago

So I think everything on the F14 is working how it should be, and the autolaunch when connected to the high voltage will kick the ball all the way up to the divertor ramp (just). So another milestone reached - I could wipe down the playfield, put the glass back in, fit the speaker panel and backglass. I'm sure they'll come out again a few times, but for now we're good.

I've also taken this opportunity to sort out my workstation for all this. I bought a new laptop a few months back (at least new to me, it was 12 months old) and a nice docking station that means I can get a 3 monitor setup going. It's taken a while to get everything installed and working how I want it, but we're there now.

In this photo you can see the 3 screens - debug and emulated DMD on the left, main coding in the centre (using Netbeans as the IDE) and my email and things on the right. And the F14 (with the glass on!) just behind.

DSCN5060.JPGDSCN5060.JPG

#274 9 years ago

So cool that you're sharing all the code, etc. One day I may well take on the project, it's just such an amazing update.

#275 9 years ago
Quoted from Freeplay40:

So.....what's next?

Well, the machine and my programming setup is now at the point where it's 95% software and 5% hardware (still need to wire up the stealth mode lighting, adjust the autolaunch a little, sort out the amplifier and speakers and then tidy up all the wiring. I've got a PC power supply in there at the moment for the LEDs, LED strips and it'll power the little PC I've got to put in sometime.

The only other thing I need to chew on is what to put on the speaker panel. I've just got a clear perspex cover at the moment, need something to put behind it.

So it'll mainly be software from now on. For some reason, the Second Sortie code which was running in Virtual Pinball is crashing at the end of a ball, so need to fix that. Then onwards building the modes and getting some more meat on the bones.

So for a while the next posts on the thread should be video as the game development progresses. It's so nice not to have piles of playfield parts and wiring everywhere, and a desk covered in tools and paperwork.

Thanks for all the kind comments

#276 9 years ago

What is wrong with the blue inserts' lane sequence? The second one lights up first, then the first, then the third. The red inserts are OK though.

Awesome work by the way. I can really appreciate all this custom work on pins these days. Keep it up!

#277 9 years ago
Quoted from FreeBee:

What is wrong with the blue inserts' lane sequence?

On my custom code, the attract sequence is just a pretty random pattern, I didn't program anything very pretty. I'll be working on some nicer lamp shows as I move forward, including the attract mode.

Quoted from FreeBee:

Awesome work by the way. I can really appreciate all this custom work on pins these days.

Thanks!! It's great to be back in a position to start coding this again!

#278 9 years ago

Man, you've been holding out on me. You've got a LOTR too? Very nice.

It's great to see your F-14 in your line-up like this. Powered up with the glass on just as if it was always meant to be this way.

#279 9 years ago

Are you able to send the switch data from the playfield back to the visual pinball and have the real ball in the real game controlling the visual pin? You wouldn't see a ball on the screen but is should play the same as the real one, it would be cool to see, lol

#280 9 years ago
Quoted from Fifty:

Man, you've been holding out on me. You've got a LOTR too? Very nice.

Had that for about a year. No plans to P-ROC it though, it would be almost impossible to improve on the software in there! I've got space (just about) for 3 pins, there was a Space Station in the line up for a while, even bought a new shiny blue ramp for it, but the gameplay just didn't "click" for me. Maybe it's the lack of inlanes just seemed weird. I'm in no hurry to refill the 3rd slot, we'll just see what comes up.

Quoted from NextoPin:

Are you able to send the switch data from the playfield back to the visual pinball and have the real ball in the real game controlling the visual pin?

I don't think anyone has developed anything to do that, although anything could be possible. I'm not sure though why you'd want to do it (other than it would look interesting)

#281 9 years ago
Quoted from Snux:

I don't think anyone has developed anything to do that, although anything could be possible. I'm not sure though why you'd want to do it (other than it would look interesting)

The only thing I could think of is that you would be able to compare the real playfield to the virtual one running the same code to see if a problem was with the logic or the hardware. oh, and cause it would be cool.

#282 9 years ago

Hi! New to this thread… just found it. Avid Tomcat Pinball owner, AND a 20+ year veteran Navy/Air Force (US) Fighter Driver… So I have a lot of time and heart invested in this game/profession.

Lots of great stuff here, I don't have the programming background so this would be a challenge for me, but I'd love to lend brainstorming to the development if you're still taking inputs.

Do you have a current rule set with the Aplha through Golf and Wizard modes, or are they essentially the same as the post from about 7 months ago? I've got some ideas, if you're not set in stone or are looking for thoughts.

Also, can you tell me roughly how you routed the red LED lighting, i.e., how/where were they ran?

#283 9 years ago
Quoted from kilmarnock1350:

Lots of great stuff here, I don't have the programming background so this would be a challenge for me, but I'd love to lend brainstorming to the development if you're still taking inputs.

Do you have a current rule set with the Aplha through Golf and Wizard modes, or are they essentially the same as the post from about 7 months ago? I've got some ideas, if you're not set in stone or are looking for thoughts.

Suggestions very very welcome!! I have a very rough mode in for Alpha and Bravo at the moment, but they are very basic. The others I was kind of going to base on that list from back then but nothing has been coded yet. Your timing is good too, as I'll be getting back to some coding very soon now that the game is back in one piece. If you have some ideas, don't forget I have the autolauncher in the game so we can start multiballs or load locks without the player needing to plunge the ball manually.

Quoted from kilmarnock1350:

Also, can you tell me roughly how you routed the red LED lighting, i.e., how/where were they ran?

I have those strips cut to various lengths and then wired together. They're mostly running on the back of the metal ball guides (so that big arch loop at the top above the upper flippers, at the top of the bonus lane for example). The strips are self-adhesive and seem to be sticking OK at the moment, we'll see how it works. A couple of smaller strips on the sides of the centre locks under the pop bumper. 2 small strips under each sling. One long strip running the width of the playfield, underneath the plastic moulding that the glass slides in to at the top of the playfield. And a couple of strips across the light board in the backbox.

I haven't connected these up yet properly, so I'll take some more pictures when I do. That photo of the red lights on earlier in this thread shows it *much* redder than it is in reality, oddly enough. Now that all the playfield is back together I'll get some nicer photos soon.

#284 9 years ago

This almost makes me feel like a kid in a candy store with mom's credit card.

These will be based on play field play only, as I know you intend to hold off on video modes. Although, those would be great, once adopted. Thinking canyon run (flying through the mountains) for starters. Run similar to "High Speed 2 the Getaway", where you 'steer' the jet through canyons using the left and right flippers. I'll leave that to the artists tho.

Dogfight Mode: This mode is simple, and should be one of the earlier modes. One ball only, so a pure 1v1 dogfight. Either you kill your opponent or he kills you (ball drain for the player's untimely demise). One of the 12 TOMCAT targets lights up for a given # of seconds… thinking 8-10 seconds. It's random, and after it times out it moves to a different TOMCAT target. It would be good if it alternated from Top targets to bottom targets. The top ones will be much easier to get obviously. Maybe a bias of time for the bottom targets i.e…. bottom target would stay lit for 8-10 seconds. Top targets about 4-5 seconds. Regardless of exact timing, the target lamp would lite indicating that it is the target, and the last 2-3 seconds lit it would flash quickly to indicate time is running out. You aim for targets either until you kill him or you drain.

I was flirting with the idea that during the "modes" if your ball drains, it doesn't count as a game drain, just ends the mode? That's up to you, and how you see the flow of your game. I just thought that during these modes, it's either you complete it or you don't. Then you move on attempting to launch and complete your next mode.

#285 9 years ago

On my playfield I changed the 3 flashers under the radar screen with 3, 8-bulb LED flashers from coin taker. This produces an extremely bright flash of light when they are triggered, and it reminded me (seriously it's bright) of muzzle flash.

During any of the modes, or as a stand alone mode, this effect could be used as "he's shooting as us!"… i.e., defensive air combat maneuvering. Think of this dialogue:

"Jester's back there, he's gonna get behind us…. What are you doing he's getting behind us! He's gonna take a shot! He's gonna take a shot!…."

Then… have the flashers pop on and off several times with gunshot audio. What this does is gives the player time to catch a ball in one of the bottom flippers to wait until the PLAYER gets the shot… and although geometry doesn't work very well (if Jester is behind you shooting) as soon as the flashes go off as he's shooting, code the 2 'kill' targets as active to kill Jester… i.e., as soon as he's shooting, then you can shoot back. He'll die from the kill target shot, and you have a decent chance of being killed with an immediate drain from hitting one or both of the kill targets. If you survive… you move on… if you don't 'kill' jester within a certain number of his shots… the table goes dead, like a tilt… as you have been shot and killed.

Again, this mode could be standalone, or incorporated with any of the other air combat themed mode… i.e. dogfight.

#286 9 years ago

When I first read your list of modes I saw the 'Wizard' mode and I immediately cringed. Air combat isn't about science fiction or fantasy, so I hated that mode name (no offense)… you had it listed as the last mode, or as I think of… the capstone event in the game.

When a fighter pilot gets 5 kills, he becomes an ace (real life), very rare these days, but during WWII, Korea and Vietnam it was more popular.

I'm thinking for Ace mode, that the goal is to get 5 kills from either the Yagov kicker, or the center Kill targets (as in the original F14 game). In order to cue each 'available kill'… you must spell TOMCAT. Ie… kinda like the original game, you spell tomcat and you cue a lock. In 'Ace' mode.. You spell Tomcat and the KILL is available, you shoot the kill. Do this 5 times and you are an Ace. I think this would be VERY difficult to complete with one ball, however if and when you completed this mission, you would be an F14 Second Sortie Ace. I like this as the last mode because it brings back a retro theme of spelling TOMCAT to the game… and, in the end, either you are an ace, or you drain.

#287 9 years ago

Ready 5, or Alert 5. The ready 5 in real life is the alert crew that spends most of the day (or night) sitting in the catapult waiting to take off if crisis erupts. In Topgun, it is referred to as the Alert 5. Remember the line: "how long? 10 minutes! BS 10 minutes, this thing will be over in 2 minutes, get on it!"…. they were referring to how long until the Ready 5 jets would be airborne.

I think this can be incorporated into a Multiball mode, where the Ready 5 aircraft (the 3 remaining balls) are autolaunched during a mode… or even during regular gameplay.

I'll ponder more on these and some additional modes, and can hopefully come up with a good 'mode' to use with a Ready 5 theme which would be 4 ball multi ball. Maybe it would be even as simple as a 4vX dogfight mode. i.e.. the first dogfight mode I mentioned, just with more than 1 target lit.

More to come, I hope… and I hope you at least enjoy these ideas 1% as much as I do.

#288 9 years ago
Quoted from kilmarnock1350:

Ready 5, or Alert 5. The ready 5 in real life is the alert crew that spends most of the day (or night) sitting in the catapult waiting to take off if crisis erupts. In Topgun, it is referred to as the Alert 5. Remember the line: "how long? 10 minutes! BS 10 minutes, this thing will be over in 2 minutes, get on it!"…. they were referring to how long until the Ready 5 jets would be airborne.
I think this can be incorporated into a Multiball mode, where the Ready 5 aircraft (the 3 remaining balls) are autolaunched during a mode… or even during regular gameplay.
I'll ponder more on these and some additional modes, and can hopefully come up with a good 'mode' to use with a Ready 5 theme which would be 4 ball multi ball. Maybe it would be even as simple as a 4vX dogfight mode. i.e.. the first dogfight mode I mentioned, just with more than 1 target lit.
More to come, I hope… and I hope you at least enjoy these ideas 1% as much as I do.

All this really opens up thoughts as to how "deep" some of these older games could be made. Very cool.

#289 9 years ago
Quoted from kilmarnock1350:

More to come, I hope… and I hope you at least enjoy these ideas 1% as much as I do.

Keep it coming, this is cool stuff

#290 9 years ago

I have really enjoyed following this thread. If I wanted to implement custom rules in my game but leave all existing hardware intact, could that be accomplished with just the P-ROC?

#291 9 years ago
Quoted from kilmarnock1350:

When I first read your list of modes I saw the 'Wizard' mode and I immediately cringed.

Yeah, it won't be actually called that. "Wizard mode" is a generic term that folks often use when referring to the ultimate mode, the one that is so hard to reach that only "Pinball Wizards" can reach it.
Keep your ideas coming, as FreePlay says it makes you realise just how deep some of these earlier games could be if they'd not had the memory limitations

#292 9 years ago
Quoted from jeffpm:

I have really enjoyed following this thread.

Thanks!

Quoted from jeffpm:

If I wanted to implement custom rules in my game but leave all existing hardware intact, could that be accomplished with just the P-ROC?

If you're talking about a WPC machine (or Stern Whitestar) then yes, apart from whatever computer you're planning to have run the P-ROC.

For Data East / System 11 (and so for F14 too) it's more complicated than that. This is what you need to get a P-ROC running in a Sys11 (in addition to the computer)...

- P-ROC board
- P-ROC to Sys11 interface / driver board (this plus the P-ROC will replace the existing MPU board)
- P-ROC to Sys11 alphanumeric adapter if you're planning to keep the existing displays. Otherwise a DMD or whatever you're intending to use.
- Couple of adapter cables for the switch matrix. The P-ROC has switch connectors for WPC. Although Sys11 uses the same size .156 connectors, the pinouts are different (why did they do that?) so you either need to repin them or make up some adapters.

In my machine, the autolauncher and all the Arduino / RGB LED stuff is not necessary, and I could have kept the original displays (using one of the adapter boards). Hope that helps some!

#293 9 years ago

- P-ROC board
- P-ROC to Sys11 interface / driver board (this plus the P-ROC will replace the existing MPU board)
- P-ROC to Sys11 alphanumeric adapter if you're planning to keep the existing displays. Otherwise a DMD or whatever you're intending to use.
- Couple of adapter cables for the switch matrix. The P-ROC has switch connectors for WPC. Although Sys11 uses the same size .156 connectors, the pinouts are different (why did they do that?) so you either need to repin them or make up some adapters.

In my machine, the autolauncher and all the Arduino / RGB LED stuff is not necessary, and I could have kept the original displays (using one of the adapter boards). Hope that helps some!

Probably it would be interessting to maintain a second version for those who don't like to do hardware modifications to their machines.

How much are the p-roc/system 11 components listed above?

Could the pin be changed to p-roc and rebuildt to original state without resoldering.

I might be interessted. My F14 is in the middle of restoration to a "like new" state.
But I don't like to modify all the electronics.

#294 9 years ago

Could you buy those "P-ROC to Sys11" interface boards somewhere or do you have to build them yourselves?

#295 9 years ago
Quoted from Galaga:

Could you buy those "P-ROC to Sys11" interface boards somewhere or do you have to build them yourselves?

The P-ROC Sys11 boards are something I designed, based on the initial proof of concept that Steven (Sven here on pinside) did. The PCB design files are available for free, so you can make them completely yourself if you want. If you don't want to do that, I sell them in 3 flavours (these prices are approx, and in UK pounds, so convert to a currency of your choice).

1 - I sell you the blank PCB and a list of what components it needs. You buy the parts and get busy soldering. PCB and shipping generally around £22
2 - I sell you the blank PCB and a "kit" of parts. You bust out the soldering iron. Price will vary some as there are a few options on the kit, but reckon around £90 with shipping.
3 - I'll build you one and test it, as time (and wife, kids, work) permits. Reckon around £150 with shipping.

I only do options 1 and 2 at whatever it costs me (I keep a few PCBs on hand, but not piles of components and have to buy those when needed), and option 3 is just for some beer money. Also bear in mind that this isn't my day job, it's just my hobby, so support is a kind of "best efforts" basis. There is more information about P-ROC and Sys11 in general over at the pinballcontrollers forum, here:

http://www.pinballcontrollers.com/forum/index.php?topic=542.0

If you want to know more, post over there (we're generally friendly!) or drop me a PM.

#296 9 years ago

When my F14 is finished and reassembled in my home office I could give it a try.
I am a software developer myselves and could take over the port of your "second sortie" version to none modified F14 pins.

I will travel to the states in the easter holidays and could bring back a p-proc board.

Would be great if you could make me the System 11 connection stuff.
I am not very good in soldering boards, so I would go for option 3.
You are in the UK.
That's great, because it could save some shipping and taxs costs.

Everything easy with no hurry, because I also have wife, kids, work and maintenance of the local pinball club.

#297 9 years ago
Quoted from Galaga:

I am a software developer myselves and could take over the port of your "second sortie" version to none modified F14 pins.

Let's wait and see if my new code actually gets to the point where other people might be interested in using it

#298 9 years ago

Spent quite a long time today working through things that I hadn't considered while working in the VP version of the game.

For example, in my code, when the outhole switch gets triggered, the ball gets kicked over to the trough. As soon as the ball is spotted in the trough, the end-of-ball process kicks in, processing the bonus etc.

In my real machine, I've made a temporary gate for the trough as I've lost the original somewhere. So sometimes the ball bounces back from the trough to the outhole. It then gets kicked to the trough again, and the game attempts to start adding the bonus again, even though it's already doing that. It then crashes

Also on the other side, if the ball doesn't kick cleanly to the shooter lane but falls back into the trough (again something that doesn't happen in the VP version, so not something I had coded for), my game is either just sitting there doing nothing, or it goes into ball save.

So I have added a bunch of code to handle this kind of thing now that we're in the "real world". Gives me added respect for the original programmers who had to consider all of this too.

All that means that there isn't much to show on here for the work from this weekend, but it is making the code base more solid and resilient. More to come......

#299 9 years ago
Quoted from Curbfeeler:

So how hard is the hardest game in pinball with automotive clearcoat and a coat of wax?

I need to adjust the leg levellers a bit, it plays *so* fast compared to before. I'm also almost scared to play it.... I know clear coat should be as hard as nails but if something chips/cracks then I'm not sure my reaction would be printable

#300 9 years ago
Quoted from Snux:

I need to adjust the leg levellers a bit, it plays *so* fast compared to before. I'm also almost scared to play it.... I know clear coat should be as hard as nails but if something chips/cracks then I'm not sure my reaction would be printable

Within a game or two after a complete restore and clear coat on my F-14, I broke one of the upper plastics...DOH! Fortunately I just recently found the plastic I needed from another Pinsider...He also had a complete populated diverter ramp which I also purchased to use as a model for an new transparent ramp.

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