Well, my switches mostly worked, except for my red rollover switch.

My trough switch #1 is not working... Which is frustrating. Something about it is not right. I'm thinking it might just be really dirty. The pin that actuates it was rusty. I'm going to try cleaning the switch and see what happens, but as the pin is involved, I'll try and sand the bottom of it, too. It's odd, as the other switches have all worked.

The new shutter limit switch is working really well. Opens all the way and closes all the way 100% of the time.

The game now needs some programming attention. I wrote a recursive function to knock off credits... It executes so quickly that I still only get one knock.

Once I solve this latest crisis(), I'll start working on semi-final game logic.

Tilt was tied into trough switch #4, and when the balls shuffled, the game would randomly tilt. I had to cut a switch to prevent that.

Oddly trough switch #3 debouncing is misbehaving. I'll poke at that to prevent issues.

I put the glass back on the playfield after mounting my displays with hot glue.

I also started working on the head, cutting my plexiglass and so forth. Should look good!

I also adjusted my left and right buttons, all work properly.

Exciting!!

Tomorrow, I'll be repinning #3,9,10 and #23 to see if that fixes the problems with those numbers.

Very close to making a little video to showcase replay step up / step down in the game. Hopefully this afternoon. One more small bug to squash.

This is obviously staged, but here you go:

Thanks Vic!

I'm working on ball count logic now - soon it will be fully playable. Right now it lifts all 8 balls - makes it pretty easy to get a 3 in a line.

Can't wait to show it to you!

Sorry for the radio silence, but it's been for a good reason: I've been play testing!!

Yep, the lure of playing the game has prevented me from fixing the last few issues, ha-ha! Broadway '51 is not an easy game, from what I've played.

Today I went through and attempted to change several things, but ran into the same problems.

Switches for trough 1, #9 and #10, and the red rollover are dead. I cannot make them go. I have continuity from the switch to the jones plug to the board, but they still don't work. This means that there are other switches in line with them that I cannot see.

As I mentioned, if I did this all over, I would probably just wire up the playfield by hand.

I have cut and spliced in new wires for #9 and 10, and will do the same for the others and just knock this out.

Also, my controlled lamps (yellow and red rollover) Are currently unhooked for the same reason. Might as well fix these, too.

Wiring always takes a lot longer than expected. All done and confirmed working!

IMG_20160705_020030_(resized).jpg

Tomorrow I'll be working on programming to take advantage of all the new goodies.

Haha, soon, soon!

Here's another teaser. I've worked out all the shutter logic completely and did another quick video. This one shows the game starting, dumping all the balls, lifting one, then closing the shutter when ball 1 is shot. It hits the ball return, then is lifted again.

After that it lands in hole #4 and I tilt the game.

Yep, getting there, thanks! I'm testing now for odd situations with the lifter. I've already verified that the lifter override button and logic works properly. Once I have that resolved (I think I do), then I'll work on the search algorithm to ensure that it is stepping the replay counter properly again. I get the appropriate number of knocks, but the counter is always off by one now.

Every time I poke something in one area, it tends to have a rippling effect throughout the system.

Once that's all done, then I should be finished with Broadway '51. At that point, I just have to backport my changes to the other games. For games with extra ball, I have some changes to make to the lifter logic.

Then I have some more graphics stuff to do (making the image actually stretch down to the bottom of the screen).

Then I should be done... for now! Haha! I have done a bit more menu work, and it seems to be behaving reliably. Now, the game will drop to the menu in the place where you left off - for example, if you move to Broadway '51, play a game, then drop back to the menu, it used to drop you to Bright Lights. That quickly got annoying as I was paging back and forth, so I added a parameter to the menu call to actually remember the game you were on and start the menu in that spot.

I do have a bit more RPi work to do - one is seriously flaky... it works, but it takes a VERY long time to boot properly. I've changed the power cord already.

I've been working on changes to the game to make it operate reliably.

Here's an example of a maddening bug -
I had a few functions that made the shutter work much more reliably. Things were looking up, so I wrote some lifter improvements.

Once those were written, I tested the game again a few times. It now has an issue with the shutter again.....

There is a limit switch that tells the game when the shutter is open. This is now getting hit a split second too early. The shutter now doesn't close all the way, and no longer behaves with a tilt with first ball in lane, etc.

I'll get this fixed. Just a switch adjustment.

Gameplay: works well. I rewrote my graphics routines for Broadway '51 to make it quite a bit faster.

I'm getting odd switch bounces on my numbers at various points. The switch bounce handling is not working.

Too tired to continue for tonight, so I'll work more tomorrow!

Lunchtime... I spent a moment trying a new method for switch debounce over the 2ms threshold built into the hardware. Apparently 2ms is way too fast for the bingo hole switches. Despite having a firm closure quickly, I guess there's enough room for the ball to move a bit while settling.

If you look at my second Youtube video above (with the Tilt), you'll see that the #4 blinks several times on and off rapidly when I hit that hole.

I believe I have this fixed. I tried multiple methods built into the framework, the config, etc. and none seemed to do the trick.

There's a simple way to access the lower level timing thresholds for debounce, and it involves just naming my switch closure function in a particular way. Ha! I've done so, and it seems to work properly. I've only got #1 and 2 set up this way, but in several tests, it's working properly.

Tonight I'm going to route my Internet through the Pi's wireless connection so that I can check in my changes. I've only got them locally copied and it's making me nervous.

This should make backporting changes to other games more easy as well, since I can find the lines modified immediately.

Oh, and some of you may be wondering why go to the trouble of making sure the shutter closes /fully/ before the balls land in the holes - for those that have played bingos, you'll know that there is a large margin of error there where the shutter can be partially closed and the balls will still be trapped.

While yes, technically this does work - the balls will become magnetized and other balls that hit the blockers will stick to them.

I was curious if this would be the case for my game since I'm not running 50V anywhere nearby. I figure it's an induction effect from proximity to wiring.

Well, this may be the case, or it may be proximity to the 50V shutter motor. I'm not sure, but I do know that this problem also affects my game.

So it is critical for playability (if the balls sit lower, it changes the angle of deflection if a new ball hits a blocker), and for appearance that the shutter function exactly_ as it does in the real deal.

Only ONE major bug left to squash. I have an issue when my replay counter goes from #8 to #9 - it just skips over it, happily.

Doesn't do this from 18-19 and so forth, only from 8-9. Once I crack this, I'll put out a real gameplay video, then I'll move on to another game!

Major bug squashed. Now I've been play testing for a while, and I've found only one super minor bug.

The game loses count of returned balls if you have a ball in the shooter Lane that had previously been returned, and the ball rolls back onto the shooter Lane switch before the next ball is finished lifting.

It is really minor because it only happens if you have two balls returned: all five shot, but two that make their way back down at once.

Can happen, and the circumstance can happen, but pretty darn unlikely.

Video of the menu:

Video of full gameplay:

Thank you! I am using a full bingo cabinet.

It has left, right and R on the lockdown bar, and red, blue, green and yellow buttons on the cab.

I have many more buttons to install, but they will likely be on a shelf or other construct that you pull out if needed. I have a friend who is long overdue to come check this out that has offered to help with that phase of construction.

It will be some time before I hit the games with moving numbers features. In fact, I may go ahead and knock out all the fixed number games first, since they are much easier to reproduce.

Precisely. I have the ability now to add any non-moving numbers game into this system that uses 25 holes immediately. Why not take advantage? I only have to redo the art and document all the units per game. There are only a small number of units that I don't have classes for in my code that'll take me all the way up to Dixieland (the last EM Bally six card produced)!

The games with animation will actually be simpler (in some regards) to complete, but will allow for more challenges in initial implementation - for example, with Variety, the first moving numbers game, I will need to create animations for each of three Magic Lines, as well as new logic in my search algorithm to detect if the three columns have moved from center position. On top of that, I will need to wire in buttons A-C and have them positioned in a reasonably nice enclosure.

Lots to do! And that's just for the first one!

From there, things get a bit more complex. When I make it to the Magic Screen era, wow. Things will be difficult. But honestly, I think the most difficult moving numbers games will be Magic Square and Roto. The animations will have to be long-running and smooth.

Thank you! And thank you for your enthusiastic support thus far. I very much appreciate everyone's chiming in with helpful ideas and even just to tell me how crazy I am.

Backporting begins tonight, if my daughter lets me get near it.

Thanks Ryan. Tonight I redid three games' artwork which should allow for fullscreen play, and backported functions to Bright Lights.

Tomorrow, more graphics work, then testing Bright Lights and more backporting.

Tonight I redid all the rest of the games' artwork and readjusted the meter and reels of the registers for all games. Man, I need a better picture of those later Barrel 'O Fun games.

I also bugtested Bright Lights! Only one bug exists from the backport. It's actually a bug with the shutter. I'll figure that out and then move on to the other games.

Steve S. came over this morning to play the multi-bingo and try out Turf King! He found another odd bug or so. He was able to occasionally cause a lifter confusion (only on Bright Lights), and a scoring issue on later Bright Lights cards.

While he was here, I modified the Bright Lights scoring routines to execute faster. That seems to have done the trick.

Hopefully another group coming tonight, and we'll see how that goes!

In between I will try to work on other games.

I'm very excited with Steve's reaction to trying it. He seemed to have a good time, anyway.

I fixed the odd shutter bug - the trick is in knowing if the game is in startup or gameplay. Within the framework, this is a bit difficult due to the time needed to engage the relays which control the shutter/lifter. I believe I've got a fairly good fix for this now.

I'm working on Coney Island now. The game is working, though it needs an Extra Ball fix - seems way too tough, though I may have left the default reflex position really high to test reflex adjustment. Lifter/shutter working, need to test scoring. I rewrote the extra ball animation routine. Looks good now and fast!

Folks were unable to make it tonight, so that means more time to back port!

Another funky thing: extra ball lift logic. I worked on Coney Island earlier, and had a rough time figuring out the correct triggers to lift a new ball if the ball went through the ball return.

What I've done is to detect a ball hitting the outer switch. If that happens, it will decrement the ball count unit. Older games used a switch on the ball return. I've toyed with the idea of mounting one there... but not yet (space is an issue).

I also worked on Barrel 'O Fun '61 as it uses both lighted scoring and super lines. Each improvement I make to any game is ported across to any other already complete.

Next, I'll work on the other lighted scoring games implemented, since they share quite a bit in gameplay logic.

Finally, I'll circle back to the much more difficult games like Spot-Lite, Atlantic City, and Palm Beach. Then I will start working on the other games!

Coney Island implemented on multi-bingo!

Bright Lights as well! Forgive the attempted spotlight on this one, I think it made the glare worse. Taking the glass out is kind of a large pain with where the game is situated, so forgive that too.

In fact, just forgive the video quality in general. Important thing is that I have them working!

Leader, Zingo, Atlantic City, Fun Way, Lotta Fun and Barrel O Fun '61 are now updated with new hardware functions.

Stars, Circus, Spot-Lite and Palm Beach are left (of course, those are the most complex).

I have a few graphical issues to address - certain images that I changed didn't get checked in (again, source control is giving me fits - I almost want to switch to a different one to prevent issues), and I pulled the full resolution of the score/instruction screens, so I can redo the S/I cards to fix issues.

Then, I'll work on more games!

I'll make more videos as I test the games.

Whew! All the games are now updated. Now, to update a couple of graphics issues (that I mentioned above).

I skipped out on updating the last of the graphics issues from the first several games and instead looked into a new game...

I also put in an order for another funky NOS playfield, and am contemplating pulling down my water damaged Double-Up playfield for use in the M.B. (I have one hanging on the wall).

With that, and a couple of leads on other playfields, I'll be at about 50% of the unique playfields needed for all the games.

I'm turning in a bit early tonight. Lots going on, and more tomorrow.

Lunchtime! I finished writing the search routines for the new game.

Now, I have to write the randomization routines and the code should be complete for this new game. I have some graphics work to do, though I may push that stuff off until I complete another couple of games.

Oh wow - the radomizer for this game is actually tee-totally different than that used in later games. It uses a 50 position stepper rather than a motorized disc.

This means that I need to map each of the positions. Thankfully, the manual shows how this works.

The nice thing is that in order to write this, I have to write the handlers for later games with manually triggered search routines. Only used in over half of all bingos.

Now, I have puzzled out how the delay and doubling works in concert with the randomizer (called the probability unit in this game), but I can see that there is a Reflex unit in this game. Oddly, there is no documentation on the reflex whatsoever on this game. I am going to have to completely fudge it. I can make some assumptions. Since this particular game has corners scoring, I can imagine that the reflex will tighten down how often the corners trip. There are separate electrical paths on the schematic for corners scoring for cards #5 and #6, so I might set the game so that the corners cannot be tripped on cards #5 or 6 until the reflex steps back to positions 1 or 0.

Sounds good to me (for now).

Nope! It works totally differently than I imagined. There's a reflex relay, which is only activated on every other coin/play. It seems that this relay allows/disallows connection between corners trips and double winners.

This must be a cam on the control unit... which is apparently open 50% of the time and closed the other 50% of each spin?

Of course, this is still only as imagined (for now).

Troubleshooting report 7/12:
Zingo troubleshooting complete.

Leader is working for extra ball buy-in on coin up, but is not lifting 7th ball.

Spot-Lite working, though extra ball animation is not working properly, and I suspect that eb portioning is not correctly calibrated. Will reduce reflex start position and see if that helps. Various payout types working correctly. Extra ball play with green button does not step down the remaining replays. Rewritten animations are faster for coining. Still slower than original. I had an idea to rewrite the animations using a delay function like I use for replay step up. That might work?

Atlantic City: extra ball play tilts the game (whoops!). Portioning appears correct.

That's as far as I got tonight.

Found a potential Shoot-a-Line playfield. I've gotta slow down.

Finished probability functions for the new game. Corners trip appropriately. This opens the door for many other games!

Also.... what's this?!

IMG_20160713_232346_(resized).jpg

Can anyone name the playfield shown above? It is unique, used on only one game.

Now, now.

Actually, this game has nothing to do whatsoever with beaches (well, one beach, perhaps)...

It is unusual for the theme as well as the layout.

Correct! Just seeing if anyone's paying attention.

Yep - never installed in a game. Coinopwarehouse had a couple - that Mystic Gate from a week or so ago, now this. I have a line on a Shoot-A-Line, I think I mentioned, and we've settled on a price. Just have to pay the man, then I'll have an interesting 28 hole playfield.

The first one that is likely to be used is the 28 hole playfield, since I can make the game(s) available for it at any time. The portioning is the same as Barrel 'O Fun '61!

Galaxy will be waaaaay down the road, but I'm stockpiling parts for now.

Testing report 7/14:

Palm Beach: need to redo the graphics of the gi layer - too dark!
Extra ball play tilts the game, like on Atlantic City. I believe a unit needs to be modeled differently - I may have named something inconsistently between Coney Island and these later games.
Odds step very slowly.
Spotted numbers work with the star rollovers. Beautiful to see those light up in game!
Spotted numbers do not disengage - whoops!

Stars: spotted number problem.
Extra ball problem.
Probability appears to be working well.

Circus: spotted number issue.
Extra ball problem.
Probability working well.
One game I got all cards doubled - that was an exciting game. Only hit for three in a row. 8 replays are better than none.

I had a friend over to try it out - hopefully he'll have a chance to post his impressions. He had a few hits on Bright Lights and Coney Island.

No other development tonight - too tired!