Wow Eli, nice progress! I am lovin the glow of those LEDs.

Eli used 5mm tubing in his other tests, I can't imagine he would change them now. I am thinking its still 5mm

ok, I thought the arcade toy with Eli's attract code running was the best TRON mod ever, I think this has it topped. Looks great! Independent ramp lighting looks very cool!

Curious, what colors are displayed on the ramps and in what pattern on this first prototype? Is it selectable, or cycles through a pattern?

Nice video, thanks for sharing! The independent coloring on the ramps was an excellent idea! I assume the board loops through the color sequences or is it random?

ok, so if you are wondering how the beta test is going, I'll tell you!

So I received my package from Eli and found 2 units, 2 lengths of clear solid fiberoptic tubing and some nice cabling to hook everything up. He even included a razor blade to trim the tubing.

The build is impressive. Aluminum plates, arduino upgradeable board, RGB leds and more heat sinking aluminum all in a professional textured black plastic covering. There are 2 ports for the fiber tubing on each unit. The second unit daisy chains to the first one and receives the signals from the arduino.

I didn't have a set of LE ramps, so I needed to install the tubing on the ramps, and find a way to mount the 2 units under the playfield. I tried several ways, but ultimately ended up with Marks excellent aluminum mount method. Honestly, this is a bit of a hassle to mount, but Eli is in the process of sourcing standoffs which will make the job easier. I also took measurements and notes in order to help the install for the next guy.

First, I removed the ramps from the game and drilled them for the tubing. I didn't have a map of holes to drill, but looked at a few pics and decided the position and number of holes I needed to drill, then I picked up a pack of 4 inch tie wraps and proceeded to mount the tubing. Its not hard at all, but obviously you have to be careful. I used a dremel, since its much easier and quicker.

While the ramps were off, I gave my Tron a good cleaning. Its amazing how fast a new game gets dirty.

Then a stop at the hardware store to pickup some aluminum bar to make the mount. I measured the mounting area and picked an area in line with the tubing that came out from under the playfield. I also picked up some self drilling screws for the mount to the units. The aluminum bar bends easily on the vise and soon I had a U shaped mount made from the flat 3/4 inch x 24inch bar.

Next, I determined the position of the units. The left unit mounts horizontally and the right unit mounts almost 90degrees turned due to the position of the ramps. I aligned everything and marked the mount with a sharpie. Then I drilled the mount and connected the units to the mount with the self drilling screws. I mounted the units and trimmed the fiber tubing to fit the units.

I turned on the game and was greeted with an amazing light show both under the playfield and above! The units give off a multitude of colors, effects, sweeps, etc. Its all programmable via the USB on the left unit, so its really up to your imagination where you can take the lighting. The programs Eli has in the units currently offer a range of colors and effects, including the lighting effect. And yes, I know the drill ... videos or it didn't happen! Well, here you go!

I look forward to further testing with these excellent units and am enjoying the lightshows immensely. I didn't think I could be happier with my Tron, until today.

Update on the testing:

I've changed a few ramp colors so I will take a better video tonight. There is a built in USB and you hook the unit up to a laptop or other computer and run a freeware program. You can edit the code and update it in a couple of minutes.

There are other options to explore too like the timing of the lamp colors, effects such as flashing, fading, and of course making new "modes" to add interest to the lighting.

Currently Eli has programmed lighting modes that follow the progression of the inserts. Each mode features color(s) and effect(s):
Flynn
Gem
Clu
Zuse
Quorra
Disc
Cycle
Recognizer
Tron
SOS
Portal

You can create your own "mode"

You are going to love this lighting.

Looking forward to the ramp lighting reacting to the ramps and flashers. That would be the next level of excitement for sure!

ok, as promised here is another video of the ramp lighting, with lame commentary
These are the modes present currently. At the end of the explanation is some gameplay.
Enjoy

Looks like Eli answered the questions, so as you were gentlemen

Eli has a newly designed advanced board that is going out to the beta testers this week or next week. I also understand Eli has a new mount for each unit, so you won't need the DIY bracket.
As soon as we receive the new board, one of us will post our findings.

I have been enjoying this lighting for a few weeks and even with just the static attract modes, it's a great enhancement to my favorite game.

Everyone that sees this lighting on my PRO is very impressed, so I am very excited to try this new design. I am sure Eli will chime in if he has additional comments.

Not sure why you would go with EL wire if you WANT fiber optic. The fiber optic works great in the PRO if all you want TODAY is programmable lighting that is not controlled by the game. Its certainly better that EL wire. I can't speak for Eli, but if you want it NOW I am sure he could package a version 1 together for you if you don't want to wait for the advanced version.

He will sell the whole kit, so you will need nothing but what is in the kit. (well, maybe tie wraps to connect the fiber to the ramps )

While we wait, here is a video I shot of the intelligent board for the beta testers and Eli. I've been playing it for 3 weeks and its really cool even in this basic form. Looking forward to the next version with much greater capabilities. Have a peek!

I used a dremel on mine. You remove the ramps, mark the holes where you want the ties and zip zip dremel away. I liked the dremel since I had control of area. A soldering iron would work great too. I would not use a drill as they are too large and easy to slip when working on a clear plastic area.

I have the locations marked on a picture, as I am sure the other beta testers also have a pic or two of the locations. Its not hard and took me maybe 1/2 hour tops to drill the ramps and tie wrap the fiber tubing to them.

It was also a good opportunity to clean the back of the playfield - man was it cruddy after only 1500 plays.

The updated board should arrive in about a week (hopefully). A small delay, but it's coming....
Once we receive it expect some news for sure.

I'm seeing more EL wire comments in this thread, so in case there is confusion we are testing fiberoptic ramp lighting (like the original LE lighting), not EL (electroluminescent) lighting.

The fiberoptic tubing is installed on the ramps and the RGB units are mounted under the playfield and connected to the existing extra +12v wire to the right below the coin door. No external power is needed.

There are currently 2 versions of this fiber optic lighting control (same 5mm fiber tubing).
1) programmable color lighting for each or both ramps. If you simply want a stationary color on one ramp or different stationary colors on each ramp this is possible. Or various programmed attract modes bringing different colors to the ramps. You can change it as you see fit (software controlled). This is the first generation board controlled by a teensy arduino that we tested.

2) intelligent color lighting for the ramps. This is the new board that we are testing. It is connected to the cpu board and senses the data to switch the ramp lighting depending on gameplay. This is also programmable like the first generation board, but also much more intelligent. I believe this will be the board that is offered when testing is complete.

Look a few pages back for a video I took recently.

This has been explained, but to summarize:

Currently the board works and the lighting is amazing. The lighting changes colors when certain solenoids are fired and follows the end of game effects. (we have it set to red/green/yellow for both ramps with this test code - see video on previous page) However, the current board isn't fast enough to read the entire data stream so its not possible to mimic the MODEs in the LE to follow the gameplay.

A new board has been designed and will be fast enough for the cpu reads. Its getting populated with connectors this week and should be in the testers hands soon.

It is unknown what we will find when we begin testing with the new board. Hopefully it will work fine and we can program the conditions we want for the lighting. After that it will be up to Eli to set a package price for the kit (board, RGB units, cables and fiber optic tubing), take orders and start shipping this wonderful mod to the pinball masses. Everyone that has seen this is so impressed by the lighting.

This weekend we began testing the new board (version 3) and the great news - IT WORKS!

Right now we are trying out some different lamp/solenoid combinations. I have a video from Friday, but will wait to take another one since we have a new version of the software now that we are testing. Its very cool to be able to change the effects yourself just by hooking up a laptop to a USB cable, running the program and updating the board.

I'll tell you a few things Eli has added and this will change as we continue to test:

- during light cycle multiball, when you score a light cycle, both ramps alternate their yellow and blue ramp lights
- recognizer targets fire both ramps orange/red for a second when hit
- when the recognizer wall drops, the ramps start pulsing orange/red and when disc multiball starts, each disc collected flashes the ramps BLUE.
- bumpers flash the ramps a pink/white flash when hit
- attract mode has pulsing orange/red lamp lights
- end of game mode alternates the ramp lights with the flasher effects going from dark to light

Since we can use PWM with this board, you are not tied to the 7 colors that the original LE could produce. You can use a much larger palette of hundreds or thousands of colors.

Again, the code is a shell at this point with just the beginning of modes/effects now that we can test for any lamp and solenoid. Expect an update in a few days as Eli continues to add modes/effects based on gameplay.

Right now we are working on the baseline timing of the modes. When does the mode start, what color/lighting effect happens during the mode, and what should happen when the mode stops.

Yesterday Eli changed the base code to get a better fading. It's quite easy to turn on the ramps and give them independent color, but turning them off requires different checks and we are finding that a more reserved lighting schema is more pleasing to the eye than tons of lighting. You can seriously light up a game very quickly and give yourself a headache

It gets complicated in a hurry when you have modes that stack. The color/duration that you have set for one mode must coincide with the other mode, etc.

Once we get the desired effect I'll shoot a video.

You know I was curious about this last night when I was testing. I think this is technically possible, but would you want the lighting color to turn off when a stacked mode is completed? For example if you have Quorra and GEM running you would have green and blue alternating. If you complete quorra by hitting the GEM shot, should QUORRA go out leaving the blue running alone?

I am also curious if anyone thinks it would be cool to have these objects trigger ramp lighting (they do not in the LE)

Arcade cab scoop - blacklight effect like the arcade game
Recognizer targets - perhaps flash RED
CLU rollovers - flash yellow
TRON targets - perhaps flash purple like the PF insert

Well, not much news to report, but we are testing what we hope is the final board. This latest board looks like an off the shelf professional IC board. Its very compact. Kudos on the design Eli.

I received confirmation from another tester that he sees the same effects as me, so I will continue testing the software triggers. The software testing should go quicker now.

We are seeing how far we can get with the solenoid/flasher triggers, but may like to also check lamps. As an added feature, I was able to check lamps and get the blue ramp/yellow ramp to light/fade during attract mode, which looks pretty cool. I was also able to fine tune some modes like CLU, lightcycle, and add purple flashing ramps to match the arcade cab when the ball is ejected from the scoop. I'm concentrating on static colors as opposed to fading, pulsing, etc as there are so many ways to light them up.

Currently, Zuse targets fire off the white ramps, along with the Zuse mode. A couple of other things are working the way I'd like but I need to discuss with Eli and the others as we continue.

When you have a tool to customize, there are so many options to test. When is it cool to have different ramp colors lit, when it is better to have them both lit. Which colors not only match the inserts and gameplay, but accessorize the game or storyline, etc...

I'd rather get a few modes working properly, and then show a video, so bear with me. I will take a video soon.

The ramp lighting is driven by it's own processor and is running it's own program.
If TRON PRO gets a software update, it will have no effect on the ramp lighting code.

You know everytime I see new messages in this thread I hope there is some news ....

Well, here you go! This is the latest testing. Change the quality to HI DEF fullscreen. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PuzxBTjQrBY

Yes, all are possible and already tested. This time I just chose to use the lamp triggers for the start/stop of modes and to show you some linear testing of the modes. I can add back the quorra spinner lighting, zuse letter lighting, arcade scoop lighting, etc. Ramps will be lit frequently during gameplay.

I tested having the BLUE cycle ramp BLUE and Yellow cycle ramp YELLOW during lightcycle multiball, this also works, but I wanted to show you a comparison of LE vs PRO with Elis ramps.

Yes, end of game lightshow will be added, along with some kind of attract mode. Do you all like the current LE attract mode, or would you like something like the yellow/blue ramps lighting?

I think for now we will focus on gameplay and add the attract mode last, but I am interested in your comments.

Yes, independent ramp lighting is possible and adds a cool element to the addition. you could have yellow/blue ramps during light cycle, green/red ramps during quorra, etc anything is possible.
This was the first step needed to show that we can start/stop the 9 modes in the original LE colors.

Yes, this will be possible. Again, whatever we come up with is not the final version, you can change it yourself if you don't like what we added. How cool is that?

Yes, fading, pulsing, blinking effects are possible. There are many options to program your effects. In previous versions of the sketch, Eli had some cool pulsing effects during portal and some ramp sweeps. He also had other predefined mode effects. I was losing focus, so I went back to basic static colors to concentrate on getting them right during the testing.

I'm going to add some more events with the static colors until we have a full base, then we can get fancy We have to address the stopping of a mode effect during gameplay if the mode isn't completed. That's first on my to do list.

Can someone verify the stacked modes possible?
Is it GEM/CLU/ZUSE/QUORRA can run concurrently and DISC/LIGHTCYCLE?
I'm not near my game, so I wanted to work on something....

I can't speak for the others or Eli, but my goal right now is to set a baseline for the game that is similar to the LE, but with some different features.

It will be entirely up to Eli to determine how he wants to package these units, but there will surely be at least one sketch that could be downloaded or sent that will have the standard modes. You can then download the arduino software and start tinkering. It will be cool to see what others envision when they begin adding effects to their game. You could literally have a dozen sketches that you could upload to the units when you like to change the lighting environment. It is pretty sensational.

Last night I made some changes:
* Add Z-U-S-E target hits to flash ramps WHITE
* Add ZUSE SPINNER effect to fire ramps WHITE when spinning
* CLU mode ramp lights turn off if you complete the mode OR fail to complete
the mode (drain or timeout)
* ZUSE mode ramp lights turn off if you complete the mode OR fail to
complete the mode (drain or timeout)
* DISC multiball ramp lights turn off if you complete the mode OR fail to
complete the mode (drain or timeout)

I have 2 more main modes to fix (turn off lightcycle and QUORRA if you fail to complete mode) and more things to add that the LE already does. I'm leaving the stacked mode lighting running concurrently for now as it's pretty cool knowing you have several modes running by the lighting.
As you complete each stacked mode, that color turns off, so you know how many you are still working on.

When I am done with the main modes and some eye candy, I will ask Eli to add back the other effects like fading.

Hmm, that never occurred to me. I would imagine it is technically feasible to plug in the light tubes to the new units, add the programmable board and start customizing. Since the fiber tubes wouldn't be long enough to have both in the same location, you would have to remove the original units and put in the new units. Yes, I think that would be possible, but you would need to modify the sketches somewhat since the lamp/flash/solenoid values are different in the LE. Actually you would have more events to trigger since you also have the apron flashers, DAFT PUNK mode and drop target bank that could also make something happen.

More progress to report....

GEM ramp lighting now ends at completion or when the mode times out
QUORRA ramp lighting now ends at completion or when the mode times out
LIGHTCYCLE ramp lighting now ends at completion or when the ball drains
Sea of simulation now pulses white like it should during this mode

Since its currently quite unremarkable when you start DOUBLE SCORING, now your get both ramps lit in the TRON insert PURPLE during this mode. When DOUBLE SCORING ends, the ramps turn off.

The RECOGNIZER mode is still unfinished. In the LE I believe you get a pulse of RED ramps when the bank is down and the disc is hit. I was able to get something similar but it interfered with something else, so it's still on the drawing board a the moment.

Here is a video I took today showing the latest progress with the lamp lighting modes.
All of the main modes are mostly working.
Non-modes such as Quorra Spinner, Recognizer bank, and some other things are also shown.

End of game and attract mode are not coded yet.

Update!

ok, so after spending lots of time on the modes of TRON, we decided to take a break and work on the cool attract mode. I took a fast video to show you todays progress (sorry forgot to take off the glass!)

And the beauty of it all .... if you don't like it, or want different colors, timing, effects, you can change it. Have it your way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TtbEM1lw8Fk

ok, here are 2 videos with the glass off to show todays progress.

I tried split ramp colors and didn't like them. It was cool for 5 minutes then got annoying when multiballs and other modes kicked in. I want the game to have life and color, but not be brash like a circus. Of course you can do split ramp colors if you like. You can change the LightCycle yellow ramps to blue and yellow. You can make your own modes if you like.

We didn't make decisions that are irreversible, everything can be changed. I made an attract mode that mimics the LE for the most part using the LE colors. Maybe someone doesn't like that, and had an idea for a sweeping blue/yellow animation during the main attract mode, or a color that goes from the left ramp to the right ramp, then pulses 2 different colors. I have to say having the attract mode and end of game attract mode installed now makes a BIG improvement in the wow factor of this game.

Some core things are in place that would be possible to change but more work. Like showing each stacked mode color on the ramps. Some will love this idea and some won't. We will include it and if you want to change it, change it. Ramp colors are the easiest to change, there are 2 lines of code for each color effect.

Eli will be packaging the kit, but I believe he will include everything you need to do the install including whatever level(s) we come up with. Then you can just go wild and create your own.

You'll need to download arduino 1.0.1 for windows and install it on a PC or laptop if you want to change the code. I think there is a linux version too. This is the programming environment.

Basically, you load the existing sketch, make your changes, save the file and upload it to the module in the head of the pinball. I have a USB cable out the back of my game since I updated it a few hundred times with my laptop next to the pinball. You could also remove the module and update it with the USB cable on your PC if you don't have a laptop.

Basic colors? It is more colorful than TRON LE because it uses PWM which can vary thousands of colors. The TRON LE has 8 colors. The videos I showed recently were with maybe 10 colors to keep it simple as I build the modes. Look at my GEM and FLYNN colors they are way different from the LE to get an idea. You can use literally any color, to match your LED inserts, etc. since many people have put different LEDs in their PRO.

What happens at the end of each ball on the LE? Do the ramps flash whatever modes you were in at the end? Please explain.

Just a quick update.

We are working on the End Of Ball logic to display the started/completed ladder insert colors on the ramps at end of ball. I like this feature in the LE and we must have it.

If we can accomplish this one, I think we have a complete base to begin refining. One step closer anyway...

Yes, if we get it to tally up the ladder sequence at end of ball, it won't matter what mode you are in when you drain. SOS, Quorra, LC, etc

Heh, I didn't even consider special or extra ball. What do you want the ramp lighting to do if you score an extra ball or special? What does the LE do when you get an extra ball or special?

Heh, and I was replying with a serious question. Well, I can add some ramp effects for extra ball or special, if necessary. Maybe some kind of alternating ramp flash since it rarely happens in a color thats rarely used

Update!

Eli got the end of ball logic working, so now we can flash the ramps the color of started/completed ladder inserts at end of ball. I also added extra ball and special lighting.

Here is a new video of the current state of the modes. A bit more cleanup and this first version will be complete. This video shows two games - a quick game and a more lengthy game completing most of the modes and going through SOS. Enjoy.

Whoops, try it now.

There is no lamp, flasher or solenoid associated with the tilt.

Since the TILT causes the start button to turn off, the game would go into ramp attract mode, so actually yes, you will get a series of ramp colors until the ball ejects

Well if you want an update:

The software sits where it was 2 weeks ago (see previous videos) and is undergoing constant play testing. There are some bugs but it's basically stable. I think the features we have added are very fun. Playing the PRO with ramp lighting has totally spoiled me. I think everyone will love this mod and enjoy making new combinations and versions of their own.

In a week or so, we will take a day and fix the bugs and that will be version 1.

Eli will have to update you on his plan for the hardware.

Actually there couldn't be a better time for a code update.

This way we can see what we need to adjust with an update. Until now we didn't have any way to know. Since the game is fully coded for lamps and solenoids, the changes should be minor to the ramp code logic. We'll see. I will update my game this weekend.

Not sure what the other poster said, since he is in my ignore list,but i guess at this time we can give a small update.

I have been running what we believe will be the production board for the past 2 weeks. This was tested with the latest tron 1.74 code that was just released. The other beta testers have the board too, so all 3 of us are now on the same platform. So far I have made minor changes to the aesthetics of a couple of modes, but basically the code is unchanged and works great. Its good to know since we can never guess if Lyman will give us another update, but if he does nothing will need to be changed with the base code.

I can't give you any other update than this at this time. I'm sure when Eli is ready, he will let you know the next step. As far as i am concerned the code is ready for first release.

Yes, it will work with any version of the PRO code and probably LE code too, though of course I am unable to test the LE at the moment

Hurray! More friends to join the party! Woohoo! You are going to LOVE IT!

I'm not sure if you guys realize this is the final release. The programming works incredibly well and the modes are there. The only difference that Eli is referring to that comes down the road is how the kits will be mass produced instead of hand soldered. Right now its labor intensive for Eli to make a kit.

I've been running the final board for 3 months and see no issues that need to be fixed.

The one thing you will be required to do is tweak the ramp lighting to your liking, adding crazy colors perhaps, new modes and changes to what we have done that you may want to do differently. And of course, you will need to share with the rest of us so we can apply the changes to ours too

Did anyone order a kit yet? Can't wait to discuss with another enthusiast

Right, I assumed Eli contacted the first 10 and orders were placed. Guess not.

Hurray, now it gets real for 11 more people!!!!!

I used a dremel with a small bit to make the holes for the clear zip ties. It was quick and easy. The dremel gives you control since i was unsure i could hold a drill steady. I think one of the other guys used a soldering pencil.

Terrific! The fun begins! Thanks for the update, can't wait for the next one to get installed.

I bought clear small thin zip ties at home depot. They are maybe 3 inches long and very thin maybe 2mm? They came in a pack of 50 or so if I recall. Thats how I determined how any holes to drill

Maybe, but I haven't heard a complaint from the 400 LE owners that have their fiber optic lighting mounted with clear zip ties. Its honestly a non-issue to me. It never bothered me seeing little clear zip tie heads around the ramp. The loop is under the ramp and so is the fiber.

Yes it would. That "someone" is Lyman and he's been asked many times believe me. We never thought we'd see another PRO update, so who knows, maybe someday.

The shooterlane area near the right outlane has one post in the way of where the fiber would easily flow around the ramp so you might want to mount the fiber closer to the ramp contour. I know i had the same problem with that tight squeeze. The left ramp has nothing in the way, so its straightforward.

Got a link? The last version we have is 2-11-2013

We should probaby setup a dropbox or google share that updates or alternate versions of the software reside as things get changed.

Right and the highest rank active mode was something we added to mimic the LE. It gets tricky when stacked modes are running. In this case as a mode is completed,the next highest running mode colors show on the ramps. Also, completed modes that are re-run don't light the ramps.

We originally had the ramp lights following stacked modes, so you would know if you are in clu/lightcycle/quorra as the ramps would pulse yellow/yellow-blue/green, but this looked a bit messy, though it was good info to the player as to what modes were running. We've tried lots of options along the way and picked the choices you see now in the software.

ok, it looks like the change you made to the TRON_Ramps_r1 in the game state has changed paragraph slowed the fast attract mode at game over. I've isolated it to a couple of lines of code. I like this change, thanks. I can send the few lines to the other owners if they would like to implement just this one change.

Now that several more people have the kit installed, give some thoughts to the following additions:

1) A dedicated mode for TRON. TRON like FLYNN is another gimme mode, so it would be cool to have the ramp lighting accent this mode to make it a bit more interesting.

2) An effect for DOUBLE SCORING (also absent in the LE). We originally had this as a PURPLE RAMP mode that trumped all running modes, but we weren't sure we liked it. I think DOUBLE SCORING is an important event, unlike the bumper mode, so we should accentuate it somehow.

3) An effect at the FLYNN arcade scoop. Again, we originally had a burst of ramp color or something, but it was interfering with other things. Now that we have more "heads" to think about it, maybe we can make something interesting.

Yes, we had that before but it was interfering with another effect. I forget the specifics. Perhaps a good time to revisit it and add that option. I'll add that to the feature request in the shared document.

Wow nice job. It never occurred to me to install them that way and with the heat shrink tubing to eliminate the light escape on the inserts. Excellent idea.

There were no install instructions 10 months ago

There was a new ramp lighting build released last night(r1e), so I'd recommend the new owners update their game. Check the shared document in the email you received from Eli for a link. Also, please check the document for active discussions.

Are there some of the 11 new owners awaiting receipt/install of your kits? Just curious.

Great to hear more have their kits installed. I think all but 4 are installed now. Party!

The code installed already in the kit is fine, it works, but there were several updates recently.

Version r1e is in the shared document, but we are testing r1h, so the code is getting tighter and tighter with herg and Eli's collaboration. I'll be testing the double scoring effect tonight to be added in the next update.

Has everyone updated their boards to version r1h? This version makes the stacking effect timing better. We are testing a few new effects in the next build now.

FYI just a little housekeeping item.

I was able to help a new owner update his board with a MAC. This is the first time I heard someone using a MAC, so I'm glad it works for those too. So far we have MAC, Windows and Linux users

Have all 11 new users installed their kits now?

I'm still unable to sleep after 9 months with it. I was up late testing some of Eli and Hergs tweaking last night

Nah, we are not letting you get off that easy. Tell us more... what do think of the modes and did you update it to r1h? Did you install the USB cable so its easy to update with a laptop? Just curious.

New version of the ramp code is available in the googledocs link. I would highly recommend updating to version R2E. Great stuff! BIG Thanks to herg and Eli for continued development of this awesome kit.

Nope, all 11 kits are using the same pinout. Mine is different. You and the others won't have to do anything to r2e as it's for "your kit". I make pinout changes to mine in the software each time I test a new version.

ok, I will take a quick video just to give you a reference of color of the ramps during game play and attract mode with r2e.

The ramp code r2f update is available now for the dev kit users. See the shared google doc for download.

Thanks Herg and Eli for the additions and for making it available for us to inject even more COOL in our Tron.

I guess I would add that the 14 dev kit owners were emailed the link to the shared documents which were used for bug fix notes and feature requests.

I'm sure nobody would care if it was stated what the current version contains, but the discussiuon section would only be meaningful to those with the kit..

Well, I compiled a changelog of sorts with Hergs help. Maybe you will find this useful, but at least it shows the amount of work Herg and Eli put into the code in the last month and the features that were added/changed.

The new timing techniques and framework helped the stability of the modes and made the portal and SOS modes possible.

Changelog 5/9 to 6/2 - current version r2f

* Replace the PULSE_ALT animation with a WAVE animation
* Add effects for each target hit during Portal
* Fix for the Gem / Super Spinners bug
* Fix for the Quorra / Gem bug
* Fix for the LCMB / Quorra bug
* Fix for the Quorra drain / fast restart bug
* Fix for the SOS early detection bug
* New effect for Portal lit, white/black wave, but of course, that can be changed
* Added an SOS mode:
Slow blue/white ramps when it's ready to start
Fast blue/black ramps during the intro
When the ball kicks out of the scoop, it progressively displays the color of the mode you are trying to complete
* 2X, extra ball, special should now work during both SOS and portal
* The blue ramps after Portal is over were a bug and should now be fixed
* Portal White base for the mode with ramp colors to match each insert collected
* Fixed the Disc MB ending early
* Fixed a bug when starting SOS with Flynn not completed caused Extra Ball ramps to light
* Used a struct to store additional lamp information
* Added a function to query lamp blink rate
* State machines for all of the game modes, which I believe are more accurate in determining if a mode is active
* Flynn mode can be restarted and is active when Find Flynn is active rather than relying on CLU inlanes
* Effects logic added

At this point there is nothing left to fix except chase down one extremely minor ZUSE bug.

All the modes work including full ladder effects for SOS and PORTAL. Herg put a ton of time on this in the past month. Great stuff that everyone will enjoy both now and when you get your kits.

Interesting Eli, its great to hear you are in the home stretch with the production units! It will be your one year anniversary ( july 8 ) when we received the first prototype. You created something amazing and refined in this time.

With regards to the arduino, since we are basically running a stable release code now, will all of the features we've worked on migrate over to the the new production kits?

I'm sure its a miscommunication. Perhaps pinbits got some in and didn't notify Eli. Those that were hitting refresh on the webpage for weeks finally grabbed one. We all knew that pinbits was selling them, but they were waiting on supply. I'm sure more are coming very soon.

Interesting. What sketch are you using for the new kits? Tron_Ramps_r2g (latest from the dev kits) or something different for these kits?

Interesting. I'm sure I'm not the only dev kit owner to be curious about the new units. I've been running mine for 14 months. Since they are different, what modes are they running? How do you update them? I know there was a webpage in development to generate a binary, but not sure what happened to it. Does a new owner want to give some info on the new kit?

Yes, the clear fiber tubing adds brightness to the ramp lighting. That was another great idea.

I think my 2 favorite effects in the coding are:
The ramp lighting changing through the stacked modes at the scoop
(ie. if you have clu, quorra and LS stacked at the scoop, you get YELLOW for a few sec, then GREEN for a few sec, then YELLOW/BLUE on the ramps for the LS since LS is the higher mode).
Second one: the double scoring ramp pulsing to let you know you are in double scoring mode.

I couldn't play TRON without this ramp lighting, its a game changer.

Herg, before you added this, I never knew when I was in 2x scoring

Pinbits is distributor for Elis ramp kit, so email them. Last I checked there was a link on the product listing page.

Awesome! Did you see the stacked mode ramp light changes at the scoop yet? Or the blue/yellow ramp lighting during LS mb? or the FLYNN mode? or the double x scoring pulsing ramp lighting? or the extra ball lighting? or the pulsing before SOS?

Sorry, just gotta share the TRON love that another one's installed!!!!

Contact pinbits on the page earlier in this thread. pinbits is selling the kits for Eli, nobody else.

Not also, in place of ..... See above

I didn't use a drill, I used a dremel and it was 20 minutes to drill the 60 holes in the ramps. Take your time, put the fiber optic tubing against the ramp to see where the holes should be and ensure the bends have enough clearance and you'll be fine. I was paranoid drilling my ramps so I used the dremel since its smaller and very easy to control and zips through the ramp in a second.

Like everyone else, I used the thinest and smalled zip ties I could find. I picked a pack up at home depot and they were milky white, but unnoticeable to me on the game. The ties keep the tubing nice and uniform around the ramp and it doesn't move. I would definately recommend the ties.

You wouldnt need to double up. Just take the existing fiber optic ends and insert them in the new light engines and install the little board. No need to add the fiber if you already have it. Interesting to see what an LE owner would think of the kit ...

Youre kidding right? If not this wouldnt work at all. You either connect the fiber tubes to the existing stern light engine or the new eli light engine, not both.

The code is very much mode based. Anything that starts a mode or is in a mode causes some logical color to display. We've tried to take the basics of the LE and expand on it and fill in the gameplay gaps with something interesting and pleasing.

As long as a solenoid or lamp causes an event, you can modify the code to give some series of colors or pulses. Switches on the other hand are not read by this technology, so you wouldn't be able to "trigger" a rampcolor based on entering or exiting a switch unless it caused a lamp, flasher/solenoid to fire.

Sorry, there is no way the sense the switches.

Normal. This was to simulate the battle between the cycles. There are other differences you will notice compared to the LE. See if you can spot them all

Right. The first hit of the recognizer doesn't light the ramps because the hit doesn't call a lamp or solenoid (flasher). Subsequent hits fire a lamp or solenoid, so they are coded to fire off the red ramps. So this is the "norm" for this kit.

This is the same with QUORRA. The first hit to Quorra doesn't light the ramps green, but subsequent spins of quorra light the ramps green.