Anybody found a good build or place to buy one of the "pinsim" style controllers for VR? I would love to have nudging and some feedback added in there. Thanks!
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Quoted from WindRaidor:I recently finished building one...and showcased it at a number of local events here in town. I took a ton of pics along the way but haven’t created a build page with instructions yet. Happy to answer any questions about it, the experience it provides, suggestions, etc...[quoted image]
That is cool! I was initially thinking of a little more depth to give it some heft. How does yours feel? Does adding some weight to the base change things?
4 weeks later
Quoted from Raaalph:I saw some requests for pinsim controllers?
I have 10 Set here ready to ship worldwide.
They include controller itself, sensor for plunger, mounting parts, cables, additionally plunger itself also available, either Stern black or Williams chrome.
Not calculated a price yet...
If you’re on FB you’ll soon notice some announcement I hope not to forget this group.
Interested. Sent you a pm. Which FB group will you be posting on?
Quoted from Raaalph:Visual Pinball Addicts: https://facebook.com/groups/VPAddicts
Ok, I don't see it listed yet, but I could be missing it. Will this have nudge sensors?
6 months later
Quoted from NoahFentz:That is one of the products whose release has been delayed. It's going to be awesome!
Awesome! Looking forward to seeing it!
1 month later
Quoted from delt31:Man I just want to buy one of these pinsim controllers but hardware only. Where can I buy? I don't need software.
Same here bud. I have no issues doing the software or wiring it up. Just need a box. I would want it to be deeper than most that I have seen online though. I am thinking 20 inches or so for depth. Real lockdown bar and receiver would be best too.
Quoted from LynnInDenver:Most of the time, the community considers it to be charging for the tables if they sell a cabinet with all the software already loaded, which still falls outside the "noncommercial use only" part of the Visual Pinball license. They're not biting your head off here, what's going on is they're trying to warn you is that it'll be much harder to get support (and it will be harder to upgrade if you get into needing to download and adjust tables) from the community - at best the recommendation will be to nuke what software the cabinet builder put on there and start fresh. And that will involve a much steeper learning curve because you then also have to figure out what configuration the cabinet's "toys" needs to be functional.
And if you're going down this route, check very carefully... some of these cabinet sellers are still using VP9 (that's the case for the minicabs for one here in Denver), because they can put a weaker (and cheaper) computer in the box than is required for VPX. VPX is lightyears better than VP9.
Good way of saying things here. As soon as someone pops up on the forums or facebook groups saying "I just bought this ____ system from ____, and it was loaded with stuff. Now please help me fix/add/update/change", they will turn on you.
1 week later
Quoted from Oneangrymo:Well I’m out, sold mine in a matter of days.. right when I saw that windows crash logo on the screens after starting one of the games, I was like “see ya”. Windows and me not friends. Most primitive OS on the face of the planet.
Good luck on your next purchase of a virtual pinball system running OSX, Linux, or whatever your prefer.
Quoted from nickbuol:What GPU is required for 120Hz 4k?
I have a pretty powerful setup with an i7-8700K cpu, and a GTX1080 overclocked (This one to be exact: amazon.com link ») card for use with my Acer ET430K monitor, but now this 120Hz bug is biting... Not that I have an extra $1100 laying around to upgrade, but I am wondering what else it would cost me. New video card too I'm guessing? Google searching (with results from within the past month) are all over the place on what works for 4k and 120Hz with a recent article in PCMag stating that 120Hz 4K in a single video card isn't currently possible, but yet people report that they have been doing that with virtual pinball for a little while now.
Anyone know? Or is it that the monitor is offloading the work and taking a 60Hz 4K input and internally interpolating it to 120Hz?
Your video card will certainly work harder to push more frames. The thing is though that you may already be capable of that many frames on many tables without knowing it. I would go for the monitor upgrade and see if you have any hiccups with specific games.
The 1080 is still a pretty powerful card. With the new releases prices should be coming down as well.
1 week later
Quoted from LynnInDenver:...seriously, using CAT5 cable? Is that capable of dealing with 5V or 12V, much less anything else? Sure, it might make cable management easy, but it kind of misses the mark when he uses such long runs and it has to loop anyway. No wonder the solenoids don't work.
This isn't to say I did a neat job in some of the wiring (my button wiring is a definite spaghetti mess), but my home built setup looks neater outside of that, if only because I've done some specific management.
And everything in my cabinet is mounted much more solidly than that subwoofer, except maybe the playfield screen... because I anticipate moving the cabinet.
Not defending this guy at all but PoE is 48v.
2 months later
Planning on listing my VPcabs Vertigo soon. It has an upgraded CPU, GPU, and memory. It is running 199 VPX games and 62 arcade games. Looking for 2500.
Quoted from northvibe:What are the pc specs? Just curious
i3 3.7GHz, 8GB memory, GTX960 GPU. Stock it had a pentium, 4gb and a gt 730.
Fayetteville, NC
1 month later
Quoted from adamross:totally new to VP, looking for a NUC CPU for my mini cab strong enough to run the more graphic intensive Future pinball & Pup packs and wondering if anyone knows if this model would do the trick considering it has 2mb dedicated graphics card? https://www.newegg.com/intel-nuc8i7inhx/p/1VK-004K-00PS3?fbclid=IwAR26qjYyhdXmkHrxGoi-f8N7yRbnGq455Ko3SrrTlc8a60Ocbw0FiH8G2-g
[quoted image]
I have not seen any folks running VP stuff without a dedicated graphics card.
Quoted from adamross:Would 2mb be sufficient?
Sorry if I was not clear. That NUC does not have a dedicated graphics card in it nor can you install one. Integrated graphics (2MB in this case) won't run VP stuff well in all likelihood. You really should have a decent GPU in a PC.
4 months later
Quoted from TomN:I’m new to the virtual pin scene. Anyway, The cab I have has the front end pinballx. Which is where I play most of the tables. The setting must be in the virtual pinball app where all the tables reside. I believe that my vpcab table has the ability for analog nudging or you can assign it to a button. Just can’t seem to find where I enable this feature yet
As others have said, you need to get to the VPX settings to work through this. You will probably want to grab a keyboard and mouse to navigate windows. The front end (pinball x in your case) won't have these settings.
1 week later
Quoted from Red_Devils:Anyone else able to register for virtualpinballdownload.com? Tried multiple times but never get an email back to set a password
I just did and it all worked. Took a minute or two to get the email with the link.
1 month later
Quoted from Viggin900:I can't speak for AC/DC, but I had heard Stern supports virtual pinball and actually supplies them files? I thought I heard Lymon was involved. They are more than happy to having there games digitized. I am not going to be surprised if this is the way they may be going. Gurantee Gomez has looked into it in order to stay ahead in the industry.
They licensed with FarSight Studios. Even that software is older now. These machines though, they are most certainly not at all approved by or associated with Stern in any way.
I would not be surprised to see another set of console/pc/mobile versions of some Stern games though.
Quoted from Deaconblooze:I've done some searching but I'm not quite clear on a few things (at least not in 2021)...
- What front-end should I use?
---- I'm mostly interested in functionality and ease of use than anything else. I'll be playing in VR (any such front-end that supports that?) and a rotated desktop monitor.
---- I'd like to be able to click a desktop shortcut, rotate my monitor, and getting into a machine with as little hassle as possible. I'm fine with work up front to achieve that.
- What should I look for to get the most out of a single monitor setup?
---- I want to run in 'cabinet mode' but with just the playfield monitor. I would prefer to have a smaller version of the dmd/score display visible on that same monitor (ideally with the ability to move as needed between different tables)
If playing in VR then all the stuff about "regular" VP is not quite the same. The bulk of the info for VPX VR seems to be in the facebook groups dedicated to it.
The 60hz vs 120 or 144 or some other high number is a real improvement. For day to day tasks on a pc it doesn't matter. For gaming (vpin included) it is pretty awesome to see. The game gets so much smoother. The ball motion in particular is a significant improvement.
3 weeks later
Quoted from DakotaMike:Did a test-fit the other day and the 43in aorus monitor DOES fit in my Indiana Jones cab! I had about about 5mins where I thought it might not based on the measuring tape, but it did.
The bottom setttings-adjustment nub does just brush the side, so I'll probably need to take a dremel or something and sand away a little groove or notch so that the monitor can be centered in the cab, but should be easily doable.
Post some pics!
3 months later
Quoted from JakePG:Anybody ever buy a prebuilt machine from thepinballking?
Have not dealt with them, but I would be a bit cautious on their top end machine. I would call that PC underpowered for 4k and good framerate.
Quoted from rwmech5:Is Xtreme Gaming Cabinets as frowned upon by the community as Retroplay? He gives credit to the developers in his videos. Just curious before I order from him.
Pretty much all of the builders are if they include any Visual pinball or future pinball files. If they sell you a machine with commercially available software only (Pinball fx3, zaccaria pinball, etc) then the community won't get all worked up.
Quoted from gregh43:Awesome Build Bakchos That's the exactly the build I want. are you selling any? I would be interested in buying one. heres another
Vp seller that offers a hardrive in the machine when you purchase. the hard drive comes from a third party. so basically the seller of his machine isn't responsible for providing the software. I agree Nicbuoi it's not right for Vp builders selling their product with preloaded tables. when I purchased my Vp custom built machine . the builder would not sell the machine with any tables installed on it. he did install the software so I could learn and mess around with it to install the tables on my own.
it was tedious and pain in in ass trying to figure out the software . I have sold my machine and wanna purchase a new machine . I don't know how to build a machine so I have to go that route purchasing from a can seller. I don't care if I get tables loaded or not. the cab sellers should work something out with the authors too . and compensate them for their work being sold. anyone getting into the vp hobby that doesn't understand the software isn't going to shell out 7 or 8 grand and not be able to play pinball. for that price they expect it to turn on and start playing . iam sure VP Cabs sells preloaded machines too.
https://www.recroomworld.com/UltraVP_Info.html
While there are original virtual machines, the vast majority are recreations of real machines. The authors have no more right to make any money from those than the cab builders.
1 week later
Quoted from Oscope:I actually think both sides of this discussion are RIGHT - totally dependent upon personal preference
Unfortunately VPins are labor and knowledge intensive to build. I’m a Home Depot DIY person and a cheap scape on top- so this is more my path. Also once I dig into something I want to optimize it and wind up doing a trade study on almost all the parts to get the best for my objective
However I have plenty of friends that choose convenience over price. They quickly choose to pay others a higher price to get things done so they can do what they really enjoy - many consider working with their hands and hardware a giant hassle. When someone else does it - it’s not uncommon that material and labor get a markup - comes with the territory
Peace Out
Bro... This is the internet. If you don't agree with someone you are totally 100% wrong and basically are a garbage person.
1 week later
Quoted from NoahFentz:You're obviously pretty new, too. VPU is a cash cow for the admin, took whatever he wanted from VPF to amass content, and advertises stolen goods, so if you're going to get all righteous, you may want to know what you're talking about. VPU is no better than VPD. Worse, actually. I've been talking with the 'VPD guy'. He's shutting it down. It just takes some patience and class in the approach.
As for buying a cabinet overseas, be vigilant. Once it gets here, you will have virtually no recourse if something goes wrong.
Noah,
Appreciate the insight.
Any updates on a pinsim style product? You mentioned one a while back, but I hadn't heard anything. Thanks
2 weeks later
Quoted from PanzerFreak:Some of the feedback on the Ultra VP Facebook group is making me second guess buying one of these at nearly $9500 shipped with tax. There's regular posts about settings needing to be tweaked for tables, certain sounds being off, sluggish play on some tables, mechanical affects only working on some tables but not others, etc. The Ultra VP still sounds cool but like others have said even the best virtual pinball setups need regular tweaking / updating.
A virtual will need maintenance just like a physical pin will. With a real pin you will have to pull the glass, adjust switches, replace rubber, etc. With a virtual you will likely need to pull out a keyboard and mouse (or set up a remote desktop program) and tweak some software. It's not horrible once you learn it, but it takes a bit of effort.
1 week later
Quoted from gregh43:anyone heard of this virtual seller and any reviews of the machines. seems like fair prices ..
https://creative-arcades.com/products/virtual-pinball-machine-327-famous-pinball-games-49-4k-lcd-screen-full-forced-feeback-package-led-strips
Personally, I would pass. Dimensions are wrong enough to bother me. Head is really wide for some reason... Front of cab seems a bit short. 31.75" would be really fun getting through doorways... PC is pretty weak too.
1 month later
I am doing a bit of work on my virtual setup as well. I got new PC parts. Need to put it all together now. 5600x cpu, 16gb ddr4, nvme2 drive, b550m motherboard. I am re-using the GTX 1080 that was already in there. The mobo has usb-c so i should be able to hook up an oculus at some point once I get things sorted out and playing in normal cab mode.
The pc this came with was a 4th gen i7, with a spinning disk drive. So I wanted to go nvme for the snappiness upgrade for sure. The cab also has all the fancy solenoids, exciters, shaker, etc. That stuff hadn't been hooked up though, so I wasn't worried about starting fresh with a new pc and sorting it all out. I have the whole zebs kit in here. It will be a bit of a long process to get all set up, but worth it.
Quoted from Richard-NBA-SF2:Sounds great!
What is the advantage of a zebs kit?
I am not interested in a plunger. What else does it offer?
I have a standard “zero delay board” and that’s all.
Got my SSF hooked up tonight. Sounding good!
Thanks![quoted image]
Looking good man. The zebs kits have the plunger, solenoids, shaker motor, power supply, i/o boards, led controls, etc. Pretty nice way to get a bunch of toys/effects installed in a solid package.
Quoted from NoahFentz:If someone asks for the Asus 120HZ, we do that, no problem.
Want a 15.6" monitor instead of DMD? No problem.
We custom build every unit.
BTW, 49" is WAY too big. The ball looks like a golf ball, which is why I pulled our Ultrawide machine from our listings.
Hi Noah, previously you had mentioned working on a pinsim style device. Any update you can share on that? I still really like the idea of something in that style and footprint for VR purposes. If it had a real lockdown bar, legs, and a bit of heft to it for "nudge-ability", that would rock.
1 week later
I request that the back and forth fanboy conversation about these two companies be taken elsewhere. There is already a thread about one of them.
On topic of my virtual cab-- super slow moving. Built the PC, but haven't put it back in the cab yet. Hopefully get around to it soon.
Another delay on my machine. Not having much luck with motherboards. Ordered one from ebay, seller didn't include the backplate or i/o shield. Shield I could deal with, but the backplate is necessary...And it didn't have wifi which he said it did. It must have been some oem motherboard that didn't include the wifi module.
So I ordered a motherboard from amazon warehouse. It looked new when I got it. It won't boot. I get the red cpu led on the board. I tried all sorts of ram combo's including swapping from my desktop. I swapped my cpu from my desktop too. PSU/GPU are known good as well. That is going back and a brand new board should be here this week sometime. I can say for sure, taking the main screen out over and over to remove the pc all these times gets old... Hopefully its all sorted out with the new one.
Anyways, so now my desktop has the 5600x cpu and the virtual will get the 3700x.
1 week later
Quoted from PanzerFreak:Regardless if you build your own virtual pinball machine or buy a prebuilt one has anyone else noticed a general increase in VP interest over the past few years? What is driving it? Personally I think the technology (4K, 120hz displays, DOF, SSF, etc) has together made VP feel much closer to real pinball. I remember playing a VP machine 10 years ago at a show and walked away after a couple minutes due to the lack of display quality and lack of force feedback. Fast forward 10 years later and it's an entirely different ballgame. Also real pins are at all time record prices and besides the cost aspect people only have so many room for real pins. There's also a good number of original VP tables that don't exist in the real world that help make building or buying a VP machine appealing.
It is reaching a much higher level of graphical and physics fidelity. That is a huge part. The other part is pinball in general is seeing a huge resurgence. Lots of folks get into arcade games and pinball, maybe build/buy a multicade, then think hey can I do the same for pinball.
I am back up and running on my cab now. PC is all new except reusing the GTX 1080. I still have a ways to go. I have maybe 15 games setup so far. I have SSF going now. That is pretty cool. Some games it doesn't seem to do much, but others are really cool. 4k 120 Hz is really nice.
My to do list is
Tweak the nudge/tilt
Figure out the DOF/led button stuff
Repin a couple connectors for the solenoids on the zebs boards. The wires were pulled out when I got it. So it's not hooked up right now.
Also need to sort out how I want to do plunger/launch ball. My cab only has a plunger with the zebs kits. It looks like there are a couple ways to do this. I don't want to have to tweak every game script that uses a button vs a shooter rod. I also don't want to have to push in the shooter rod as that won't be as intuitive for kids or guests.
Quoted from BrandonLaw:Glad to see it's coming along! You have the right idea to where lots of games use button vs. Plunge and changing the script would be tedious. Get that hole-saw out!
amazon.com link »
I have a button, but I probably will lean away from drilling and adding it. The front of the cab looks pretty much just like a TZ right now. I don't want to add anything that I don't have to. It does have magnasave buttons, but those are pretty key for a number of games. One option for ball launch is my preference.
I don't even have any menu buttons on there and I think I can get away without them too. Left coin reject is exit/esc. Right coin reject adds coins. I do have the buy-in extra ball button that I haven't decided on yet for functionality. It would only really be needed for original purpose on WPC games that support it, and I don't really use it myself.
1 month later
Quoted from TomN:So my cmos battery died on my mb and messed up the video settings (amongst other things) with visual pinball. Currently I can play games, but some dmd video is missing, while on others the back glass art is gone. Game plays fine otherwise...I’m trying to understand what changed in the bios settings that could have messed up video settings? One thing I noticed is the monitor order had been switched. The back glass monitor became the primary etc...any thoughts from more experienced virtual pin owners? Not at a total loss, but it’s been a minute since I’ve really dug into these things.
Does your motherboard have onboard video? That resetting to a default setting could cause issues with windows detecting monitors in the wrong order.
1 week later
friscopinball think you can convince any of the fine folks in the VP dev world to work out a Dragonfist VPX? We need it
Quoted from A_Bord:DudeRegular if you can get me a scan of playfield and plastics I'll build it.
That would be awesome! I asked in the Stern Electronics thread. I am not sure if anyone has them or not. CPR did the plastic set, so I would think someone in the community provided them the originals or scans.
Quoted from japespin:Question for everyone... Just curious, what displays are you all using for your playfield? My last attempt at a virtual pin cab, the latency between flipper button press, and actual flip was too much. I tried switching out PCs, different encoders, tried the Virtuapin plunger/encoder, and the latency was still present, so I'm thinking it must be the LG TV I was using. I even had the TV in game mode which is supposed to reduce latency, but that didn't work.
Broad range of possibilities honestly. Hardware certainly could be part of the equation between your encoder and screen. Another thing is all the software side. Things have gotten quite a bit better there. Many games have been updated or rebuilt with updated physics and flipper tweaks to play much better.
I played Old Chicago on my vcab last night for a while. I want to get one at the house too. That or Grand Prix are the two top of my EM list then a whole bunch of cool gottliebs after. Captain Card is pretty great and I don't usually like symetrical layouts.
1 month later
Quoted from paulbaptiste:Can you point me towards that information? I'd like to set up a virtual unit to play games I will likely never own due to rarity (Big Bang Bar for example). And if it's economical and easier to not start from scratch, that would be ideal.
Quoted from paulbaptiste:Looking for advice on a laptop(if possible) or pc to purchase to run visual pinball. Are there minimum specs or guidelines I can be pointed to? I’d like to use visual pinball to design games for homebrew as well as ideally playing virtual games for rare titles I will never own.
Appreciate any direction you can provide.
Do you have a pc now? If so what specs does it have? VPX will run on a variety of hardware. When you get fancier stuff like better graphics cards, then you can up the settings for resolution, etc to make it look fancier.
Not a Mac guru by any means, but using it as an external display isn't straightforward when I last looked it up. You could try running windows on it. Is boot camp still a thing?
Quoted from paulbaptiste:I’ve looked at mirroring Windows on Mac (also not a Mac guru) and from what I read it would be simpler just using a pc. I’m not opposed to using the money to buy something new but would rather not have to set up a separate desk area for it.
Then I would try boot camp and install windows.
2 months later
Quoted from stubborngamer:Even if I had the want to make the exterior cabinet I don't have the space so I would have to buy it. I could gut my arcade1up I guess but if I am going to go to the trouble I should go for the right form factor.
The most daunting thing for me would be getting the feedback going, and just the general electical work I'd have to do, hooking a few monitors to a computer seems like not a big deal. And I guess there is some risk in actually damaging something in the process. I'll try to watch as many videos about the process as I can.
The software install has gotten much better with Baller Installer. However, setting up a bunch of games based on your view/lighting/option preferences takes quite a bit of time. Not saying it is hard, but it is very time consuming.
1 week later
Prioritize your features/want list. For me a few stick out at the top for sure.
Cabinet and hardware and dimensions. No lockdown bar or something different shaped really hurts from both a look and feel perspective. Buttons in not quite the right place will really get annoying.
Screen quality and placement: 4K 120hz (or higher) is key and not having the screen pushed back too far is important. Otherwise the flippers will be too far back as well.
Leaf switches on the buttons, not microswitches.
Real plunger is big for me. Holding a launch button to try for a skill shot is aggravating. I noticed this when I had a vertigo.
1 month later
2 weeks later
I have the zebs plunger in my machine. It is also the usb controller for my buttons. Occasionally at boot the buttons will be non-responsive. I think its going into gamepad mode for some reason. I can get it working again by getting out of the front end and running the zbkb (not sure of the spelling) batch file to force it back into keyboard mode.
I don't have anything set up anywhere to use gamepad mode. I am only running VPX right now on my cab (no pinballfx or console type stuff). I use the zb scripts to go from digital to analog plunger as necessary, but those are both supposed to be keyboard based. Pinup does that for me in the game launch scripts.
Anybody else have issues with this? I am running the latest firmware on the plunger kit.
Quoted from themotherbrain:Does the error happen if you arent using the frontend? Can you replicate the error if you just open the table file? May not be the issue but it could possibly be pinup popper doing it. I had issues with some ultra dmd games not working correctly as well as some arcade games wouldnt launch. Nothing I did ever fixed the issues try as I might. I could use everything just fine if not using popper. I switched to pinballY and haven't had a single issue since.
Thanks for the input. I will definitely try to check out direct launch VPX first next time it happens. I just fired it up tonight and of course it works just fine.
6 months later
Quoted from NoahFentz:We've built a backbox to house a 43" monitor. Yes, you read that right. A 43" backbox monitor! Lol
Pretty sure we could handle a 22" DMD monitor. [quoted image][quoted image]
Love it
Pinside_forum_7765867_3564091 (resized).jpg 1 week later
Quoted from Smaug:Join us on an adventure far far away with Episode 1, it was the second Pinball 2000 table, the first being Revenge from Mars. Ryguy and others have recreated this the best they could in VPX. 10.8 is required.
That looks quite a bit different than the Williams JPOP layout.
Quoted from Pintucky:Fellow Kentuckian . . . I've been seriously thinking of getting an Ultra VP pin but know absolutely nothing about them. For many years I had over 20 of the very best pinball machines out there and knew a lot about repairs, etc. A fellow Pinsider who is an expert at repairing pins said this is such a different animal, I would be making a mistake. He talked me out of buying one. He is also a computer expert. He said I will enjoy it for awhile until Windows decides to do an update and then mess it all up. He said it would take someone with his skills to go deep into the computer itself and restore everything and re-configure it correctly. Even though I offered to pay him if something like that would happen, he says he doesn't want any part of working on one of these. He thinks they are a rip off because in a few short months, you are up a creek with the computer changing things. I don't really understand it. It seems to me if you are not connected to the internet, there would be no way Windows could do an update. And if updates to the game would come out, I don't think I would really care to go through the trouble of updating anything.
If you have the time, can you explain to me how you cannot keep the computer connected to Windows? Surely, you don't have to be on the internet to operate one of these pins? I guess the bottom line is, if I buy one of these, am I going to eventually not be able to use it because of Windows updates or some other kind of changes that happen that is out of my control and ruins how it all works?
Thanks so much!
Mike in Bowling Green . . . WAY down south of you!!!
An easy way to describe it simply while admittedly not being the full picture: Take it "offline" disable windows updates, turn of wi-fi, etc Then it would be a snapshot in time of whatever is on it.
Or figure out how to load things yourself, learn about tweaking, changing the POV, adjusting various things line ROM volume vs SSF volume, update Visual pinball, future pinball, FX, etc. This is the only way you will be able to stay on top of all the new stuff constantly happening. See all those videos that Marty (Smaug) posts? All the cool stuff in there will require doing. Not many people are going to want to just do all this for you. It takes time.
2 weeks later
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:I'm new to the club having just purchased a pre-owned VP Cabs Wizard. I have a multitude of questions for the group regarding a few issues I'm having, but first I wanted to redesign the artwork since the current theme is just not my thing. With that said, The Matrix is my favorite movie, and the idea of theming a virtual pin on a virtual world seemed natural to me.
My plan is to just do the speaker panel in black to be less distractive. I'm going back and forth with the powder coating (thinking either black with blue tint/flake or a lighter blue). As far as the art goes, here is what I have so far.
As far as the art, I'm happy with the cabinet sides and probably won't change anything. For the cabinet front, I'm going back and forth with havcing red & blue pills or not. For the head sides, I'm about 80%. Just seems like something is missing, but I can't figure it out.
I'm certainly open to suggestions but reserve the right to reject them. [quoted image]
I would lean towards no pills. For the head sides, might look better without the border shape? Actually might be interesting to see it all without that border.
hmmmm
"Guns. Lots of guns" – Neo (The Matrix)
Balls. Lots of Balls
Or some twist on this:
Morpheus: What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:All good quotes, but thinking through it I'm now leaning to stay away from specific movie references and leaving it more generic for a pinball theme.
Understandable. Maybe
pasted_image (resized).pngQuoted from Mr_Tantrum:I'm liking the idea.[quoted image]
That fills the sides nicely.
1 month later
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:After seeing it all together, the yellow Launch Ball button has got to go.
Maybe a custom "enter the matrix" insert
3 weeks later
Do you have the shortcut to Direct output (or directoutput64) in the plugins directory in your tables folder? Then you need to check your plugins in VPX to make sure it's running.
Also, highly recommend you join some of the discord channels for VP stuff. Lots of good answers pinned in there and really quick answers often.
I had a vpcab vertigo. It was a cool thing to have, but the software was not quite right in a few ways I ended up starting from scratch on it and had better results. They had all sorts of remnants though out the directories, stuff that was no longer relevant, etc.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:So, I finally figured out all of my issues with DOF not working with VPX. After getting nowhere in the forums or Google searching the issue, I started breaking things down. Everything was working in FX3, so I knew my hardware was good. I had rechecked all of my files at least 10 times, and again everything was by the book. Therefore, I reasoned that the issue was either with DOF or VPX itself. I started with DOF by re-running the install and noticed there was an update/repair option in the installer. I ran this, tried a game, and magically everything was working. Can't tell you how excited I was after days of agonizingly trying to figure things out. What I assume is that I either had a corrupt DOF ini file or that something went haywire in the registry. Regardless, my cabinet is 100% functional now with lights, solenoids, digital plunger, and physical nudging both in FX3 and VPX.
I've already installed a few pins with PuP Packs (Tron, TNA, and Stranger Things 4) and they are pure awesomeness. Now it looks like all of my free time in the days and weeks ahead will be downloading and adding VPX tables along with getting Pinball X to work correctly with all the games (which it doesn't right now).
While I'm on the topic, is Pinball X the preferred frontend for VP systems or is something else out there better/more popular?
Pinup popper is the most popular front end these days.
Quoted from rockrand:I have a vpcabs pinball 2000 type game where the display is shown on the upper playfield ,it’s about 10 years old and I am asking what you guys think it’s worth,I know it’s not much and I am stupid enough to have paid about 7000.00 but I would like to move it along? Biggest mistake I have ever made I believe only computer literate people should by these games.
I wish I could hire a wizard to upgrade it to the build you guys are talking about but there is nobody and it would have to take a lot of time maybe a very young kid that is a wiz and would work at a great rate.
Thanks.
These things tend to not be worth a bunch unless you have some really nice hardware. If yours is that old, the PC is likely not up to par for the current stuff.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:Your cabinet and screens are probably still just fine, but computer will need to be updated for whoever wants to bring it up-to-date. I'm an IT consultant with over 30 years of professional IT experience and at least 15 years beyond that being a computer nerd. Seeing how I just purchased a pre-owned system and completely redid my cabinet art, armor, and a complete software update refresh from the OS to all of the VP required elements, I would say that you certainly need to have some computer savvy if you want to DIY things.
10 years ago, I'm assuming the computer specs were quite high-end for the time and would have been a significant portion of the costs, not to mention how much more LCD screens costs back then.
All true except the screen tech is also way better now that it was ten years ago. 4k and 120+ he makes a big difference.
You probably need a whole new PC to get started if your cab is that old. Does your machine work at all?
Quoted from rockrand:Ya it works and has fx2 but again it’s not 4k and compared to the new graphics it still a joke! I also have full force feed back.
I would build a new PC then. You can copy your DOF (force feedback) settings, and whatever your input settings are. Then put those on with a new PC. If your steam and pinball fx is legit then you would need that login info.
Then run the baller installer, which will get your pinup popper front end, visual pinball, and future pinball.
Did you run the baller installer and set your screens up? Also is your playgirls not connected? Things could get out of whack if it's not hooked up and set right.
https://www.nailbuster.com/wikipinup/doku.php?id=install_guide
Make sure they are all in the order as shown in the pic partway down the page.
Quoted from pinheadpierre:I don’t know how it was set up. I inherited the project as is. Playfield is fine (just relived from cabinet and set aside to facilitate working on wiring). Monitors appear set up in the correct orientation. Maybe I should start over with a fresh installation?
I would brother. Copy all your stuff out to a backup folder and do the baller installer. It does a great job of setting things up for you.
I have been slowly adding some more games to my system recently. I am at a whopping 70 so far. I see people selling vpins with 900 games. That has the element of overkill, but its also probably a bunch of older VP stuff prior to VPX. Its one of those times where quality is certainly more important than quantity. So I guess my advice to those of you working on your machines, take your time adding games. Set your POV, make sure the game loads right and actually plays. So many times there are adjustments that need to be made. When its time to play you want it to work, not find out there is a problem because you simply dropped the files and added them to your rotation.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:I do have a question regarding 64-bit VPX At this point I have done everything with VPX 8.X 32-bit, but I’ve come across a couple of nice tables that require 64-bit.
I would hate to do something to mess up all the work I’ve done so far to get everything working, so was wondering if possible to run 64-bit in parallel without interfering with 32-bit system?
You can run them all. In popper you can set up multiple emulators even for versions of VPX. I am actually full running only the beta 10.8 64 bit GL version now. I simply swapped the executable in the emulator setup in popper.
As for media, since I change every POV to my tastes I do the auto record for play field and backglass. It's really nice to go from the front end directly into the game and it be a seamless look. I found it a bit jarring to go from a recording in popper of a different pov with sometimes different lighting/lut to whatever have mine set to. Auto record is nice. I run it after adding a few games and hit mute on my keyboard to not hear the talking or music.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:I do have a question regarding 64-bit VPX At this point I have done everything with VPX 8.X 32-bit, but I’ve come across a couple of nice tables that require 64-bit.
I would hate to do something to mess up all the work I’ve done so far to get everything working, so was wondering if possible to run 64-bit in parallel without interfering with 32-bit system?
You can run them all. In popper you can set up multiple emulators even for versions of VPX. I am actually full running only the beta 10.8 64 bit GL version now. I simply swapped the executable in the emulator setup in popper.
As for media, since I change every POV to my tastes I do the auto record for play field and backglass. It's really nice to go from the front end directly into the game and it be a seamless look. I found it a bit jarring to go from a recording in popper of a different pov with sometimes different lighting/lut to whatever have mine set to. Auto record is nice. I run it after adding a few games and hit mute on my keyboard to not hear the talking or music.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:Yeah, I was thinking about selecting all games and letting it run overnight just to make sure everything matches like you stated. I think you've kind of made up my mind for me.
I've not tried with the FX3 games. Does it work the same way?
I don't have fx3 running. I do have most of the Williams games on there, but generally prefer VPX in most cases. Their original games don't do a lot for me. I had them all in the vertigo I had previously. I now have a good chunk of the Williams games on the new FX but that was really for the UEVR option on my PC and the steam sale had most of them pretty good priced when you owned the games on fx3.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:FYI, for those of you who are tired of having to remember to unblock downloaded files or using 7-Zip instead of the built-in Windows Zip tools, here is how you disable downloaded files from be flagged as blocked. I did it on my computer about a week ago and have literally downloaded hundreds of files since that time and every single one downloaded successfully without the blocked flag.
In my setup, I had to manually create the "Attachments" key in addition to the "SaveZoneInformation" D-Word.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-get-windows-security-to-stop-automatically/7a057608-a31a-433c-a456-d3be1f7febc3
I will add that to my setup as well although I have a different workflow that mitigates the file blocking. I do all my downloading via my desktop PC. I drop files through a UNC path to my cab, then use tight vnc to do configuration stuff on the cab. Doing things this way has never had the file blocking pop up as an issue.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:I just went through the attempted add-on of 64-bit and had to restore to my previous configuration. I'm on VPX 10.8 rev 1347, but the current download for VPX 8 is newer. I updated to the 32-bit first but I'm having a variety of issues with it. Many of my tables are messed up (having some PUP issues too) and when I exit popper the popper app locks and I cannot restart without killing it in Task Manager first. Also, when exiting popper my taskbar disappears. Once I reverted back everything worked perfectly. I tried again by just copying the x86 VPX 10.8 files over the top of the existing ones and I have the same issues.
Guess I'll have to wait to add on x64 until the updated x86 version is stable for me since I cannot figure out a way to download rev 1347 64-bit.
This video should help. He also has a link with stuff ready to go. The no taskbar deal is popper not quitting properly.
Nice, I haven't actually used the alternate launcher option. I have two different emulators even though they are both calling the 10.8gl 64 bit exe. Since I only have a plunger and not a launch button one version puts the plunger in analog mode and the other puts it in digital mode.
I loaded up the fancy vpw version of STTNG. Looks awesome. Had some pretty bad stuttering though, particularly when flashers triggered. I changed my video settings from frame pacing to v-sync. I left the limit at 117 as I have a 120hz monitor. The game then ran extremely smooth. I had been watching out for a video card on the second hand market to upgrade my GTX 1080. Now I just set the global video settings to use V sync instead of frame pacing. I will go play for a bit to see if that helped on a couple other titles where I had seem some lag/stutter. If so, this old card can live on a little longer.
This is using VPX10.8 64bit GL btw.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:Been doing more work today with VPX. I learned how to setup color DMD's, so I've now done that for several games and have several more queued (have to wait for my download count renewal). On a related note, I'm frustrated that Virtual Pinball Universe requires a subscription. I'd happy pay a one-time fee for annual use, but you have to actually subscribe with an auto-renewing subscription. When I attempt to subscribe using PayPal it forces me to link to my bank account for the subscription, which I absolutely will not do. I know that I could subscribe then immediately cancel, but it is unclear if this will still provide me with the subscription benefits for the year.
On another note, I'm a huge PinSound fan and somewhat of a pioneer. I had in the back of my mind that at some point I saw a video of a VPin a few years ago that sounded like it had one of my PinSound orchestrations playing on it. After some research, sure enough you can apply PinSound orchestrations using Popper with VPX. I just finished setting it up for me first game, and it's pretty awesome!
Now I'm off to download every PinSound orchestration for the tables I have installed as my next VPin project.
Do you have to do any conversion stuff or just drop it in altsound?
Quoted from ataritoday:Hi all,
So quick question. For the back glass. Does everyone go with 16x9 or 16x10 ratio. And I guess I should ask which will require less adjusting. I’m guessing 16x9 ?
I like all ages of machines so I know compromises no matter what.
I’m going to be fitting out a williams wide body cab, playfield I really like the lg oled. I bought a 27” 16x9 monitor for backglass (thus the question). And I see virtual pin website sells custom speaker panel and 15” monitor that fits in it which seems like an easy way to get that 3rd screen going. I don’t have time or skill for the wood working.
JB
You will be fine with what you have. If you did go with a 16:10 most glasses would be closer to original, but not much difference. Nearly all are going to be squished down a bit with any widescreen format screen.
I am running 4k 120hz with a GTX 1080. I think it's a factory over locked card but it's older to not a huge difference from that. In 64 but GL, I am currently running vsync and limiter set to 117. The box frame display usually looks pretty much locked around 107. Not sure if that is my card not getting to 117 or weirdness from the beta software. I was thinking of upgrading my desktop and taking the 3070 from there to put in the vpin.
Quoted from pinheadpierre:I’ve been building up a library of games ever since starting with a fresh installation of Windows on the dumpster dive virtual pin I am salvaging. It’s going well overall but one small quirk is eluding me. On some games the ball looks normal but on others it is really bright or really dark. Is there a way to have a standard, normal looking ball image on file somewhere that can easily be swapped in on those games where the ball is too light or dark to my eye?
In the editor on the right side, you can change the ball texture in the drop down menu.
2 weeks later
What version of the walking dead do you guys think plays the best? There are quite a few floating around.
Quoted from stubborngamer:Vpw is working on a proper version, best one I've tried is:
https://vpuniverse.com/files/file/8884-the-walking-dead-stern-2014-sg1bson-graphic-novel-mod/
Thanks. I will give that one a shot then while we wait for the VPW version. That is something to look forward to.
1 month later
I have zebs boards in my cab. They were there when I got it. I am done with them. Solenoid/output board has been dead a while. Now the plunger is really acting up. The analog motion is very inconsistent. Sometimes it will randomly full power plunge. It also controls all my buttons. It likes to randomly startup in gamepad mode despite having my startup set for keyboard mode. It has also been randomly losing control of the accelerometer/gyro while playing. The balls will start floating rather than coming down the play field or quickly shoot to one side or the other. The 3d printed bracket for the plunger also broke and required replacement. He does offer the STL on his site so I was able to print one on my own.
I am leaning towards the Cleveland Software gear.
https://www.clevelandsoftwaredesign.com/
Pinone board with the contol board, plunger, button board, and a few other parts. This should replace all the zebs boards in my cab. Only real downside is I need to rewire all my buttons.
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:I have a friend who recently purchased a used VBCabs pin with Zebsboards in them (I also have Zebsboards, but mine are different/older versions). The high power controller board was bad as the previous owner had broken off USB connector in the port at one time. Basically, the board would continuously drop in and out of Windows. In the end, it stopped working altogether, so he ordered a new solenoid board and we installed it today. All of the wires match up to the old board but nothing is firing. Windows sees the board and so does the test program, but when you fire any of the solenoids or LEDs connected to to the board nothing happens. We have the 12V input correctly setup, but I’m wondering if we’re not actually getting any voltage.
The voltage coming is is a yellow wire but when we try to trace it back to the power source we can’t seem to follow it (very difficult to reach/see things). Tomorrow we are going to try to remove the main monitor so that we can trace all of the wires. There is a yellow wire that goes to all solenoids which I assume is 12V, but doesn’t the wire at some point have to be connected to a 12V power supply?
How do I check voltage with a meter when there isn’t a corresponding ground wire plugged into the board (or is the yellow always hot and the colored solenoid wires are each a ground? Could there be a fuse somewhere that is blown?
Anyway, if anyone can offer any insight to this very limited electrical hack, I would appreciate it.
Post a pic if you can.
Quoted from pinheadpierre:I recently picked up a free virtual pin that needed to be fully redone. I basically only reused the displays and the funky cabinet. I used Cleveland Design hardware to handle inputs. Easy setup and works well for me.
I ordered a bunch of stuff to re-do my cab.
Virtual Pinball Button Hookup Kit
Button Expansion Board
RGB Leaf Button x4
PinOne Main Virtual Pinball Connection Board PinOne Included
12v to 24v knocker circuit conversion kit
Legends/Williams Pinball Compatible Virtual Pinball Plunger Attachment
Re-wiring all the buttons and solenoids is gonna be the most time consuming, but not horrible in the end. I have some little board that wires into my williams coin door and provides power for the coin bulbs along with button connections. I may just build a little connector for that. This will allow me to keep all my mounted solenoids which is nice.
I have SSF running using the smaller dayton units. Its cool, but I may look at upgrading them to get a bit more oomph out of SSF. Gotta see how it all feels and sounds after though.
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