(Topic ID: 107609)

Total Lightshow. Development thread. Including installation guides.

By TimeBandit

9 years ago


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  • 2,350 posts
  • 261 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 months ago by dts
  • Topic is favorited by 207 Pinsiders

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“Is there such a thing as "Too many lights"”

  • Is there such a thing as too much luvin? 10 votes
    20%
  • Is there such a thing as too much good music? 8 votes
    16%
  • Is there such a thing as too much pinball? 32 votes
    64%

(50 votes)

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There are 2,350 posts in this topic. You are on page 26 of 47.
#1251 7 years ago

What's the sound caller mod? That's not ringing a bell

#1253 7 years ago

I still can't tell what it is, but I'm sure I'll want it

So does that mean you're making a spinner kit for the pro that replicates the drum sounds on the premium? I thought spinner kits on the pro had to be tied into the pic standups, making pic hits much easier. Plus the Pro code doesn't support spinner scoring? That's why I never bothered to install spinners on my pro.

I apologize for my confusion

#1254 7 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

I still can't tell what it is, but I'm sure I'll want it
So does that mean you're making a spinner kit for the pro that replicates the drum sounds on the premium? I thought spinner kits on the pro had to be tied into the pic standups, making pic hits much easier. Plus the Pro code doesn't support spinner scoring? That's why I never bothered to install spinners on my pro.
I apologize for my confusion

The add-on will talk to the CPU board and call the sound when the installed spinner is hit. I will not be supplying spinners as Hooked has that covered. This way, you get the sound but not the errant scoring associated with hitting the tied-to pick target.

#1255 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

The add-on will talk to the CPU board and call the sound when the installed spinner is hit. I will not be supplying spinners as Hooked has that covered. This way, you get the sound but not the errant scoring associated with hitting the tied-to pick target.

Hooked spinners have alligator clips. To use your board would we wire the spinners to the board or into the games switch matrix? Does the new board connect to TLS?

#1256 7 years ago
Quoted from Rickwh:

Hooked spinners have alligator clips. To use your board would we wire the spinners to the board or into the games switch matrix? Does the new board connect to TLS?

I will be supplying the required wiring. I have a set of Hooked's spinners, so I will make sure I include what is needed.
The new board plugs into an existing header on the MI.

#1257 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

I know it's not pinball, but check out what my son is doing after being inspired by my work. The lights change color when the rumble pack goes off. He is making more money than me, lol (and that just means a positive return. I am still deeply in the red. Gotta love our tiny market)

That's pretty cool. If you tell me he's only 10 years old I'm gonna cry.....cuz that's beyond my abilities.

#1258 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

I will be supplying the required wiring. I have a set of Hooked's spinners, so I will make sure I include what is needed.
The new board plugs into an existing header on the MI.

If there's a list put me on it as I need this for my met.

#1259 7 years ago

Anyone have a link where to buy the spinners?

#1261 7 years ago

Just purchased the spinner kit Wouldn't have bought without Timebandit's new mod. I'll keep an eye out when it's available

#1262 7 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

Just purchased the spinner kit ...

Awesome! Bear in mind, you will have to modify the plastics in order to get the spinners to fit on a pro.

#1263 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

I will be supplying the required wiring. I have a set of Hooked's spinners, so I will make sure I include what is needed.
The new board plugs into an existing header on the MI.

Thank you brother. As always im humbled by your skillz.

#1264 7 years ago
Quoted from Rickwh:

Does the new board connect to TLS?

IMG20161118071317 (resized).jpgIMG20161118071317 (resized).jpg

#1265 7 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

Just purchased the spinner kit Wouldn't have bought without Timebandit's new mod. I'll keep an eye out when it's available

Good to see! But technically, something could still go wrong and I never get it completely finished. The spinners are fun to have regardless.

#1266 7 years ago

No worries. After the work you did on total lightshow, I have total faith in your abilities

The thought of having spinners & sound without "cheating" on the pick hits is a game changer IMO. Hopefully you can get it to work

4 weeks later
#1267 7 years ago

Bump for MET spinner update

12
#1268 7 years ago
Quoted from jsyjay:

Bump for MET spinner update

Glad you asked! Funny how this seems to happen.. Just now have successfully tested switch hits calling sound requests. I can now confidently call any of the sound requests included in the factory code from any switch. So, your installed spinners get wired back to the interceptor and are allocated to blank switch spaces on the matrix.
I also have all the control that the matrix interceptor gives me regarding locking into modes like I do with the lights, so I can have different sounds played by the spinners depending on states of the game.
I am now working on response times and smooth playback to ensure quality rrrrrrrripability.

#1269 7 years ago

Here's some footage of testing. Spinners generating sounds without scoring. Still work to do on the tuning of the response. But it works!

#1270 7 years ago

Wow man that is tons better than the delayed response you get from hooking these to the pick targets...plus no scoring!! It's a much smoother transition....looking good.

#1271 7 years ago

Ok, I'm starting to get a little bit excited about this. Here is footage after some work on the response tuning. And I have found the gunshot sound request, which comes out like a machine gun. I think I will set it up to do the bass drum most of the time, with the machine gun in certain modes. I am digging through and testing all the sound requests to see which work best. Hopefully I will end up with three or four different ones.

#1272 7 years ago

The usual awesome work we are used to with you

Great work as I have both Hooked spinners as Theater mod. I do have however also Smartdmd hooked via sidechannel to the rs232 of the CPU So I assume this mod is a no go for me

#1273 7 years ago

Machine gun for sure in for whome the bell tolls

#1274 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

I'm trying to get him to play nice with the CPU board. Tiny Rick's an asshole.

Dear Rick,

TimeBandit was just kidding when he called you an asshole. He doesn't speak for all of us. Thank you for helping make the spinner awesome, Rick!

Your pal,
Hougie

#1275 7 years ago
Quoted from Rensh:

The usual awesome work we are used to with you
Great work as I have both Hooked spinners as Theater mod. I do have however also Smartdmd hooked via sidechannel to the rs232 of the CPU So I assume this mod is a no go for me

images (10) (resized).jpgimages (10) (resized).jpg
I can't guarantee this would be effective, but I think, Rens, you would be the first person on the entire planet to have a splitter on the rs232 port. And this would cement your position as having the most modded Metallica in existence.

#1276 7 years ago
Quoted from Hougie:

Dear Rick,
TimeBandit was just kidding when he called you an asshole. He doesn't speak for all of us. Thank you for helping make the spinner awesome, Rick!
Your pal,
Hougie

I realise now that I was projecting my own inadequacies onto Tiny Rick. It was never his fault, but rather my naive approach and underdeveloped skills which led to my frustrations. I have apologised to Rick privately, and he is all good. I humbly thank him for the valuable lessons he has given me.
Merry Christmas,
Mike and Rick

IMG20161225121556 (resized).jpgIMG20161225121556 (resized).jpg

#1277 7 years ago

More test footage. This clip shows the final sound choice for the normal run of play. I am playing badly here so there aren't that many good hits to the spinners, lol. There are two good hits in the first 45 seconds and that's about it for normal gameplay, but it clearly shows how good it is. The rest of the clip is me getting to and failing at Sparky MB. The point is, I am demonstrating how I can use a different spinner sound at different parts of the game. During the MB, the spinners play an electric shock sound. It's a little difficult to hear the shock sound in this video just because of the sound mix in the room, but it is clear from in front of the machine.
So there will be some more sound choices made over the next couple of weeks for other points in the game, and I have to work out how I supply the cabling to get it hooked up for people who already have the kit and want to retrofit Tiny Rick. New kits will go out with redesigned matrix cables that are ready to accept the spinner wires.

#1278 7 years ago

Four different modes, four different sounds.
Normal Play, Sparky MB, Coffin MB, FTB.

#1279 7 years ago

Glad to see you're working hard on this mod! Love the options for different sounds based on modes. Spinner kit in hand, just waiting for this mod to be released to install

Are you still working the rising cross mod, or is that still on the backburner?

#1280 7 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

Are you still working the rising cross mod, or is that still on the backburner?

It's still coming, but I had to change the mech. I thought it was through development, but during testing I have found an issue with overrun on the motor. Because of the type of gearing in the motor, it runs on a bit more than the factory motor after the power is cut. This is something that can be addressed, but it requires tweaking the switch actuator. And in fact, I've ended up changing the switching design all over, so I have to rebuild the prototype housing.

#1281 7 years ago

And here is my little Tron implementation of Tiny Rick. I'm getting him to call the LCMB start sound on hits to the target bank during LCMB. Outside of LCMB, hits to the targets are as normal.

#1282 7 years ago

Putting the last touches in the Tron Total Rampshow. Here is Quorra..
During normal play, spinner fades up when hit. If hit hard enough to register enough spins it will payoff with a brief flash.
During the MB, the ramps alternate green fade.
When JP is hit at the spinner, the factory GI is dimmed and a soft fade flash is triggered.
When the SJP is hit at Gem an aggressive payoff flash is awarded, with the factory GI precisely alternating with the green of the ramps. So there is a lot of visual action, but the green stands out because for the few milliseconds that it's on for each flash it's not drowned out by the GI.
Tiny Rick is on sound duties, calling the LCMB start sound sequence on every ball launch. F'ing cool that is, I'll tell you.

#1283 7 years ago

Awesome work, any idea on a price for the tron ramp kit? I am desperately trying to resist the pinbits kit until this becomes available

#1284 7 years ago
Quoted from Elgringo:

Awesome work, any idea on a price for the tron ramp kit? I am desperately trying to resist the pinbits kit until this becomes available

I am targeting the same price as the Metallica kit, so around US$285. Give or take.

Latest development update is that I have the last of the redesigned light boards on order now, and am just working out the best supplier for the POF. Code is in tweaking-only stage.

#1285 7 years ago

Yeah… it is really some awesome work!!!
l hope that the tronkit will be ready for sale soon. need one.

#1286 7 years ago

For those waiting on Tron, here is a run through of the complete code up to and including SOS. I forgot to demo the outline fades and extra ball. They are in the code though. OL fades are similar to Met, with orange on the left and blue if you drain on the right. Extra ball just flashes the left ramp orange in sync with the extra ball insert. I'm just waiting on final hardware components to come in and I'll do some install video.

#1287 7 years ago

Looks great, thanks for posting update

#1288 7 years ago

New reflow oven in da lab! And Tiny Rick's about to be on the line..

IMG20170113151401 (resized).jpgIMG20170113151401 (resized).jpg

#1289 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

For those waiting on Tron, here is a run through of the complete code up to and including SOS. I forgot to demo the outline fades and extra ball. They are in the code though. OL fades are similar to Met, with orange on the left and blue if you drain on the right. Extra ball just flashes the left ramp orange in sync with the extra ball insert. I'm just waiting on final hardware components to come in and I'll do some install video.
» YouTube video

Looks awesome! Hopefully you can finish it off soon, since that means you will be that much closer to starting xmen!

#1290 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

New reflow oven in da lab! And Tiny Rick's about to be on the line..

You get all the cool toys.

#1291 7 years ago

Here is detailed footage of the response behaviour of the spinner sound. It is just never going to be as smooth as the native spinners, but I am super happy with the way this is working. I have experimented with synthetic response curves where I just tell the board whether or not the spinner is active, and then take some time measurements and calculate how fast it is spinning, then play a predetermined repeat rate of the sound call, then return it to natural hits when it drops under a certain spin rate. This results in a perfectly smooth rip when the spinner is moving fast, but I just feel there is something not quite right about a synthetic playback.
I could spend more time tuning the synthetic playback to be variable as the spinner changes speed and be pretty indistinguishable from natural hits to a player during the run of play, but somehow that doesn't seem right. And really, I think the performance here is pretty good. This footage is recorded with the quietest background music that is ever playing in the game, so every little blemish can be made out if you concentrate hard enough. During play it sounds like a normal spinner to me.
At this stage, this is how it will ship.

Added over 7 years ago: Edit..it won't be shipping like this. I have improved it.

#1292 7 years ago

Now please, please, please move on to SMVE and I'll be ordering a light show for Spidey + MET!

#1293 7 years ago
Quoted from zene10:

Now please, please, please move on to SMVE and I'll be ordering a light show for Spidey + MET!

Oh no, you missed the press release..

Quoted from TimeBandit:

I'm going to have to put the idea of complete replacement RGB GI on ice. It's just going to be too expensive and too daunting a process for enough people to want to do it. This may disappoint, like, ten guys worldwide, but a man's gotta be realistic.
I'm also changing my production cycle to batch on demand. This means that the 25-odd Metallica kits I have left in stock will be the last for a while. I will find a way to collect names for future runs.
I will be concentrating on finishing development of the extra add-ons for Met, and ramp-only light kits for games I have mentioned. The R&D for that is pretty much sunk, so might as well get them out and see how they go.
RIP RGB LED GI

Quoted from Rickwh:

RGB GI death, does that kill TLS in SMVE?

Quoted from TimeBandit:

Well here's the thing..the issue is the bulbs. I have the MI coded to drive the lights, I am pretty certain of the source for inexpensive playfield wiring. But the damned bulbs are just too expensive. What could conceivably happen is that someone else could work out the physical lights and then I simply sell the coded board to drive them. Someone could even take my light board design and see if they can make them cheaper/easier than I seem to be able, and same again..I am left to supply the driver board. That could work. I just don't have the resources to continue the bulb development.

#1294 7 years ago

Full run through of spinner code. Run of play is..

Normal play..bass drum

Fuel..on weak hit nothing, on a hard hit the fuel jackpot sound

Sparky MB..electric shock

Fade to black..whip (or something. I don't know what to call it, but it works really well)

Coffin MB..gun shot.

Notice the dropping in and out of modes in sync with game code.

#1295 7 years ago

That video actually shows the Met Total Lightshow doing its whole thing. Driving the lights, cross and spinner sounds.

#1296 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

And this would cement your position as having the most modded Metallica in existence.

I'll take a close second? Or settle for having it inked on my arm

I'd ignored this thread for mos. So pumped to see the progress on spinner sound! You're truly a magician and a good dude.

1 week later
#1297 7 years ago

Here is a look at the spinner sound caller add-on kit. It includes the communications board, power, signal and RS232 cables. It will be around US$45. Still a few days from going live on the website.
In this form it will require an IDC pusher to push the signal wires onto the relevant Matrix cables you already have connected to your Matrix Interceptor. I will be offering optional replacement matrix cables with the connector already on the wire to accept the spinner signal wires, if you don't want to push these connectors on.
New Total Lightshow kits that are ordered with the sound caller included will get the upgraded matrix cables as standard.
Video install instructions will be coming within the week.

IMG20170123215146 (resized).jpgIMG20170123215146 (resized).jpg

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IMG20170123222227 (resized).jpgIMG20170123222227 (resized).jpg

#1298 7 years ago

Cant wait! Sounds silly, but the spinners not even connected make the game more fun. Feels so good when you get a zinger flying up the left or right side and that spinner goes crazy.

Lookin forward to more details on how to wire up the spinners.

As always great job!

#1299 7 years ago
Quoted from Rickwh:

Cant wait! Sounds silly, but the spinners not even connected make the game more fun. Feels so good when you get a zinger flying up the left or right side and that spinner goes crazy.
Lookin forward to more details on how to wire up the spinners.
As always great job!

So, just so I understand, the spinner kit does not score, it only makes sound? The kit from hooked was tied to the targets if I remember correctly, this kit does not do that??? Any input would be appreciated.

#1300 7 years ago
Quoted from thedarkknight77:

So, just so I understand, the spinner kit does not score, it only makes sound? The kit from hooked was tied to the targets if I remember correctly, this kit does not do that??? Any input would be appreciated.

This does not score. It plays sounds at the proper spinner rate. The spinners connect back into the machine's switch matrix and are read by my Matrix Interceptor in the same way any other switch is read. The new add-on board then sends a sound call directly to the CPU via the RS232 port at each spinner switch hit. You get the sounds playing at the correct rate, and I have coded different sounds for different parts of the game. See video a few posts back.
I don't supply physical spinners. Use Hooked's spinner kits, but then connect them back to Total Lightshow instead of to the pick targets.

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