Medford, NJ
Picking up a stock TSPP and wanted to replace the battery holder. I saw an NVRAM on pinballlife.com for 39.99. Anything else i should consider?
(Topic ID: 50801)
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The Simpsons Pinball Party
Stern, 2003
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Quoted from Mattyk:Maybe make sure it has the updated 5.0 rom and display rom. If doing led conversion spend the money on the OCD board. It’s well worth it. Also get cliffys for the ramps
Just actually purchased the full LED kit from Comet with the OCD board. Thanks for the reminder on cliffys
Quoted from PtownPin:I would buy it directly as I believe its quite a bit cheaper. I bought mine about a year ago and if I'm not mistaken it was around $20
https://www.pinitech.com/products/cat_nvram.php
This is what I was looking for thanks. While I’m here, any other “must have” mods for TSPP?
Just started my LED conversion and I'm currently working on the GI. Is the best way to access these lights underneath the ramp by entirely removing it? Or is there something simpler. First timer here
2E6457B4-A0F7-4E42-9201-E92A01B11FB6 (resized).jpegQuoted from ataritoday:Hi I removed the ramp to change them. Having said that… I do not like them led’d. I would leave them incandescent. I have comet sunlight in the rest of my GI. But under that ramp. I liked the original bulbs better. The led’s are just too visible as bulbs as opposed to just brightening it if that makes sense.
You know, I was wondering this. Maybe I'll finish the rest off and decide at the end. Thanks for saving me the headache
Quoted from drummermike:I put in sunlight frosted from under the playfield in that area. I used green frosted behind the lock targets because the sunlight were too bright. All Comet sunlight clear under the playfield. Mostly frosted sunlight above the playfield.
You can get to the lights under the couch ramp from beneath the main playfield? Or are you talking about going under the upper playfield. Sorry I’m not in front of the machine right now
I left the couch ramp alone and agree it looks fine as is with the incandescents. Unfortunately when replacing the wedge bulb in the spotlight nearest the shooter lane, the bulb snapped off and left the base in the assembly…it’s always something
In case anyone is wondering how this first-timer fared… I’m about 80% done with the LED conversion. Tackling the upper playfield and difficult GI spots tomorrow, and may add the outhole strip and a few other spotlights that came with the comet kit. Homer and Lisa don’t appear to be lighting up in attract mode but everything else is looking good.
27C02285-2392-4BF3-BB8B-F1528B029B23 (resized).jpeg45C66CBD-7C70-41EB-B702-14942FBF1D17 (resized).jpegQuoted from Biju:Are you also including an LEDOCD board with your change-out as well? Also, did you 1-for-1 color match? Curious because this is on my to-do list but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Yes i added the OCD board onto the comet kit. I just took whatever bulbs they recommended for the specific game. It appears that they’re all color matched for the inserts, mostly sunlight for GI. Everything really looks so much better
1 week later
Quoted from briyau15:Hey all,
So I ordered an LCD colordmd from the ColorDMD site and being a newb I had someone else install. We downloaded the software and installed it in the new display and when we turned it on it seemed to work. I didn’t really play it at the time so fast forward a couple of weeks and when I turn it on now the power seems to glitch and the display doesn’t come on. What’s weird is that when I turned it on and off it came and stayed on once so I started a game but the images (which were color) didn’t sync with what the game was actually doing. When I hit a shot it would show the appropriate screen reaction but after it would cycle through and display random Simpsons screens/reactions while the ball is in play.
So tonight I turned it back on, the lights flickered and it seems like it was going to crap out power-wise (lights on black box flickered a bit) but then the game display doesn’t come on. Any thoughts?
I’m on v4.0 of TSPP, I see there’s a v5.0 for download on the Stern site so am wondering if I was supposed to upgrade to v5.0 before installing the colordmd.
Any thoughts/insight is appreciated, thanks.
Yes, I was going to say you probably need to update to game code 5.0 as i believe that’s what the newest DMD is coded for
You’ll have to swap new chips into the main board and lcd board
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Quoted from briyau15:Hmm, so the only way to do so is re-install the old display so I can see what I’m selecting (upgrading properly), then swap it back with the color once upgraded?
I don’t think so. Just acquire the chips, pop the old ones out and the new ones in. I did it for the first time about a week ago and it was no problem. This was before you could download a code file onto a USB so it’s a little more of a pain
https://mattsbasementarcade.com/product/the-simpsons-pinball-party-stern-rom-upgrade-chip-set/
Quoted from briyau15:Hmm, ok not sure what the new chips you’re referring to. When it was installed we downloaded the TSPP rom code from their site and installed it into the LCD. I presume that’s what you’re referring to?
If so then it sounds like I just need to download the v5 from the Stern Support site and upgrade the pinball machine with it. Thanks for your help.
You can do that with the ColorDMD board bc it has a microusb port.
In order the update the TSPP game code you need to physically swap microchips from two locations: one on the main board, and one on the LCD board that was reinstalled onto the ColorDMD
Quoted from tectonyc:So uh, how exactly do I remove the old chip to install the NVRAM? That sucker is stuck in there REALLY tight.
I carefully used a small butter knife to wedge it out slowly.. but i believe they do make tools for this somewhere
1 week later
Quoted from Lermods:If you didn’t create it, you are taking someone else’s hard work and profiting off of it without giving credit. That is a licensed work people are selling without paying for the license. You want to use it for personal use, that’s cool. People selling it are asking $100+ for it, why not kick back $10-20 to the designer?
While we’re on the topic of 3d printing, whats a good starter printer for someone looking to try it out
Quoted from Lermods:Creality Ender3, they are under $200 usually. Learning curve is steep, mainly on the design, but there are a ton of videos and info to help.
This is a good place to start and ask questions
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/3d-printing-sharing-thread-lets-better-the-hobby
Thanks, will check it out
2 weeks later
Quoted from briyau15:So a month later and I still haven’t resolved the issue. Believe I was using the same 26 pin cable before the colordmd swap and feedback I received from Randy from ColorDMD says I should check the plugs. However, I did that but it still cycles through random issues. Randy said it has to do with the cpu board sending the signal to the display via the cable so I’ll order and replace the cable to see if that works.
I still am in v4.0 but the color dmd site said v5.0 is needed. However, one reply said they were not on v5.0 and their colordmd works so I’m waiting for Randy to confirm. For those who do have a colordmd are you on v5.0?
Yes i am and made the rom swap prior to installing color DMD. You can get the CPU 5.0 and display chip set for like $20 from Matts Basement arcade and he ships quickly
Quoted from Sllabnip:TSPP is/was my first game. I bought it from another Pinside member about 4 or 5 years ago. My high score is about 145,000,000. Absolutely obsessed. Still haven't beaten Alien Invasion. So frustrating! Tonight I got a 2,000,000 extra ball bonus...not sure why...first time. Regardless, love the game.
I also now have The Shadow (LOVE it), TMNT Premium (growing on me), and I just bought Black Knight Swords of Rage after playing it a few minutes - seemed cool enough!
Anyway, a few weeks ago or so I bought a 2nd TSPP from an awesome Pinside member, because he happened to live near me, and mostly because it's still new in the box!!! It could be the only one in U.S. but of course I don't know. Since I love TSPP I figured I could hoard the NIB, eventually sell my current game, and start fresh with the NIB one for myself. Or, I could sell the NIB for a profit one day, years from now.
Figured I'd throw it out there that if someone wants the New in box TSPP and willing to pay up for it now, I'd sell it for a quick profit now. Just being transparent.
PM me if you want to offer for TSPP NIB. If this is supposed to only go on Market section, my bad, I can delete.
I hope that NIB games didn’t ship with batteries installed back then. But yes, this does belong in a marketplace ad and in a “for sale” forum
Quoted from spikelou2:Nib tspp in this market would sell for 15,000 -20,000 easy .. keep it .. but I’d play it if I was you .. it’s too awesome.. pm if you will take less than 15,000 ..
Anyone else think I’m correct ..
I agree with whoever posted earlier about buying a nice HUO game with some tasteful mods for half the price. If you’ve got money to burn and want to gamble on a NIB with no battery leakage i guess it’s cool to see one out there.
I remember at some point last year a NIB TSPP was posted (and ridiculed) all over the Facebook groups. I believe it was somewhere in NJ and the ask was originally 15k and came down to 11k or so before disappearing
2 weeks later
Quoted from Biju:I think the best two you can do are:
1. ColorDMD
2. LEDs with an LED OCD board
I would also review your shooter lane, Itchy/Scratchy hole, and most importantly the center ramp behind the garage door. If there's wear (or the ramp is broken on the bottom like most of them are go with some Cliffy's. In fact, if your ramp isn't broken I would still go with it because it eventually will wear down.
Outside of that it's usually aesthetics of specific mods that please each individual differently. I'm not really a mod person but the Mini TV is probably the best of the bunch.
I’ll add that as far as mods that actually add value, these are also the two that come to mind
Quoted from Pin_Fandango:Once the thumbscrews are removed, is there stuff under the pf that needs to be disconnected in order to take the pf off?
No, it just pulls right up after that. However the cables run under the main playfield and are pretty tightly zip tied together so there isn’t a ton of “give”. I actually snipped one of the ties to allow me to lift the upper playfield a little easier. Just follow the wires and you’ll find it pretty easily.
Quoted from Pin_Fandango:I would have though there must be a way of permanently removing the upper PF by disconnecting a few molex… no?
I misunderstood what you were looking for. You can disconnect entirely if you want, but I didn’t have to go that far to clean or change to LEDs
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