153 replies to this topic

[court461]

So, I am going to start a cabinet build.  This should be much different than most of the builds on here.  Because

 

1.       I don’t know anything about real pinball tables.

2.       I don’t know anything about virtual pinball tables.

3.       I don’t know much if anything about Virtual Pinball software.

4.       I don’t know much about computers and graphics cards (as far as building one).

5.       I am not a great woodworker.

6.       I don’t have much electrical knowledge.

 

Other than those limiting factors, I feel pretty good about everything else.  (Sarcasm intended).

 

My hope is to document my journey, and to entertain others, and show how to build a cabinet with no experience, and how to recover from all the mistakes made when building a cabinet without any experience.

 

The only thing I have on my side is time and a little money to spend on this endeavor.  And by time, I mean hopefully I won’t die before finished, I am sure it will be a long process.  And by money, I mean I have a job, not that I am rich.  If I was rich, I would certainly buy a table.

So, you may ask yourself, why would someone like me want to build a pinball cabinet?  (Which, coincidently is exactly what my wife is asking me).  The answer, goes back 20 years to when I used to play Addams Family at a store near a job I had in college.  I would spend breaks, lunch, and go afterwork to play this game.  It was so addicting to me.  I loved it.  20 years later I still can remember standing there playing that table.  I always thought, one day I would just buy one.  But, Jeebus, they are expensive.  So, I figured this way I can play a lot of different games, and it will be much cheaper.

 

So enough of my sob back story, off we go.

 

 

Computer.

Apparently you need one of these to play, who knew?

I have some computers at my house.  One is dedicated for my normal use (emails, internet, paying bills, etc).  One is my media computer for my main TV.  As such, neither of these will work for a cab.  Plus, if I stole the media computer and my kids were unable to watch Scooby Doo or TMNT for the 4,000^th time, all hell would break loose.  So I need to buy one.  I did a lot of reading on building computers.  I watched a lot of videos on building computers.  I read a lot of reviews on computer components.  I work at a computer all day long, and have had computers all my life, but have never built one.  So I figured no time like the present.  I did read a lot on this and other forums about computer requirements for a pinball cab.  The computer I will build is probably overkill, but I figured, if the cab does not work out, I can upgrade my home or media computer and I want a good one.  Here is what I settled on. 

CPU – Intel i5-4440 (3.1GHz)

Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H

8GB Corsair Vengeance Ram

Samsung EVO 128GB SSD

EVGA 500 W Power Supply

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti GPU (4 monitor capable, I figured the more the better).

 

 

I was going to skip the case altogether, but then a few days later ordered a cheap $30 case.  I need a power button I decided until I get everything in the cab.

 

It turns out, building a computer is really easy.  Not sure why I have not done this before.  I watched few videos on youtube and it is built.  Boots up great.  Da&%t, apparently I need an OS.  On to ebay for a $65 copy of Window’s 7.  A few days later, CD comes, which is awesome, because it made me realize I did not add a DVD drive to the computer since it would not need one.  No worries, stole a DVD drive temporarily out of another computer, Window’s loaded up and I am in business.

Edited by court461, 12 June 2015 - 03:35 PM.

[court461]

Software

 

At this point, I decide I should try and get the software up and running before I buy much more stuff.  I would hate to have a cab built and not be able to play for some reason.  I figure I will hit the site, download all the software and tables, and be ready to go in 30-40 minutes….  So approximately 20 hours later (no lie, I tracked my time, and no, it was not in one sitting) I have a pretty good start on the software. 

 

At this point, I would like to thank Daryl Erwin, I think he goes by allknowing on the forums for his youtube videos.  Without those, it would have taken me a lot longer.  I also wish I would have found them earlier, because I fumbled around for a long time.  I am kind of amazed that there is not some type of installer that does everything for you.  What is up with having to download all these scripts, fonts, sounds, and nvrams all separately and put them in folders?  And then tables and roms individually one by one?  Oh well, regardless I am ready now.  I went for a visual pinball only install for now.  I am learning enough at one time, I will save future pinball for another day.  Quickly tired of the download limit so payed up to be a platinum lifetime member.  I am a member of a lot of forums.  The time saved and info gained is always worth it to me to be a member.

 

 

 

Part of the problem I had initially was I downloaded all old backglasses, then UVP and B2S, before I realized directB2S was the new and greatest.  So I ended up downloading and changing code in tables many more times than I should have.  But at the end of the day, I have about 40-50 tables working.  I can’t tell if the setup is perfect because I am just running on a single screen for test, but seems to be working ok.  When searching for the direct B2S tables, I ended up going to the “other site”.  This intrigues me, why is this “other site” the name that cannot be mentioned?  Was there some blow up years ago and the pinball community split into two factions and now hate each other?  They both seem cool to me.  Anyway, if anyone wants to tell me that story I would love to hear it.

Front-End

 

I thought I was done with software.  But all the cool youtube videos have this wheel clicker selector.  Awesome, I need that.  So many more hours reading, I find Hyperpin, and start learning that.  I see a lot of complaints about how hard it is to get running, but I did not think it was that difficult.  I must admit, if I would have seen pinballx before I spent a lot of time in Hyperpin, I may have went that way.  But, I am pretty heavily invested in time devoted to learning Hyperpin, plus I like the look of it so I am staying that way for now.  I have all my tables now working in Hyperpin.  I don’t have all the art and images yet, but I figure I can do those later.

 

 

[nickbuol]

I'll tag along and see how things go... 

[mviars]

I would suggest that you get your second monitor (or borrow one) to help setup your tables now. I think it also helps when adding tables as I would have the the download and info web sites tabs on one screen and the the vpin software and setups on the other screen then when I start the table both screen switch to playfield and backglass for testing then when I exit I am back at my downloading web sites and vpin software setup areas. This just saves tons of time and helps with backglass settings when having the second monitor. I would do this at home in the evening and work on the cab during the day when possible.

[court461]

I would suggest that you get your second monitor (or borrow one) to help setup your tables now. I think it also helps when adding tables as I would have the the download and info web sites tabs on one screen and the the vpin software and setups on the other screen then when I start the table both screen switch to playfield and backglass for testing then when I exit I am back at my downloading web sites and vpin software setup areas. This just saves tons of time and helps with backglass settings when having the second monitor. I would do this at home in the evening and work on the cab during the day when possible.

Good advice.  I did not realize how much tweaking there was to do once you had everything downloaded.  I am actually ahead of my posting, I started a while back.  But I will catch up soon.  It is a slow day at work.

[court461]

Now onto some Build type stuff

 

So looks like first I have to decide on a size.  I do some more reading, and I decide on a standard cab.  I would love to have a widebody, but don’t have the space, and figure I can tackle that build later if I actually use this one.  I look through a ton of build logs, WOW, you guys are talented individuals.  Some of the cabs built blow me away.  I at first think about ordering a flat pack kit.  I look at virtuapin, xtreme, others.  The kits look awesome, but I have some tools, I can get wood, and I am an accountant.  So I can’t seem to justify paying for them, especially with shipping.  I figure I can build from scratch myself.  (I will probably regret this decision immensely later on).  So now that I know what size, I can start sourcing parts.  I ordered a button kit from virtuapin, and also a plunger kit.  That plunger moving the digital plunger looks awesome, I have to have one of those. 

 

 

Then I start scouring ebay and craigslist. I thought I hit the jackpot and found a panthera cab for sale for $250 that I could gut, but I could never coordinate with the guy (seemed shady) so I gave up.  That had coin door, lockdown bar, rails, glass, and a good looking cabinet.  Can’t find anything else locally, so I guess it will be a scratch build.  I found the dimensions online in plans.  Now I can get some screen sizes.  I want the biggest that will fit, so looks like it will be 39-40” for the playfield.  28-32” for the backglass.  And DMD, wow more reading before I try to figure that out.

 

So ebay standard lockdown bar $30, bought.  Now I have a lockdown bar, for a cabinet that does not exist.  No turning back now.

 

 

Pinball legs on ebay for $50 bought.  D&%tt, should have done more research, these are Stern legs 30.5 inches, seems the commonly used are Williams/Bally at 28.5 inches.  Well, I am 6ft 3, so a taller table not a big deal, plus I can just mount the legs higher.  Crisis averted.  I chalk that up to another mistake of the many I am sure I will make. Can you use the Williams brackets with Stern legs?  Those look nice.

 

 

I look at things like rails, coin doors, dmd’s, can’t believe how expensive stuff is.  I decide, my cab is being built to play, not to look exactly like a real machine, so I am going to cut some corners.

 

19” monitor from craigslist for $10, bought.  Now I have my poor man’s DMD.

 

 

Even used pinball coin doors are so expensive on ebay.  Screw it, I will never use the coin door, so I am cheaping out again.  Small non pinball coin door on ebay just for looks.  $10, bought. 

 

 

 

Went and bought some plywood to play around with.  Got some ½” instead of ¾”.  I am probably going to regret that.  My thought was I wanted it lighter.  Not too concerned about rigidity because I don’t plan to move it around.  Plus, since I am not worrying about playfield rails I don’t  think the size will matter.  I can adjust the plans around the ½” panels.

[court461]

Playfield and Backglass

 

A new store is being advertised called TV’s for less.  Decided to have a look.  They get open box Vizio TV’s and sell them at a big discount.  39” 1080p 120Hz smart TV bought $260.  The non-smart were only $220, pretty good deal.  I didn’t necessarily care about the smartness, but the non smart ones were only 60Hz.  I don’t know what Hz are, but by god if I can get 60 more for $40 I am going too.  They didn’t really have any suitable TV’s for the backbox, or I would have bought one for that too.  They skipped from 23” to 32”.  Too small, and too big.  Just like Goldilocks I wanted just right.  I made sure it had 1:1 pixel mapping, good refresh rate, the only thing I could not tell from the box was if it remembered power state.  The guy didn’t know either.  Screw it, I figured I will wire up a button if needed to the outside of the cab.  The only other bad thing is the bezel is not even at the top and bottom.  If it was, I would not have to decase it.  Not sure if I have enough room to center it without decasing.

 

 

 

Since I already got a Vizio for the playfield, decided I would get a matching set and get one for the backglass.  That way, worse case scenario I had to use a remote to turn TV’s on, I could do both with one click of a button.  That would save me a few seconds each time I wanted to play.  That will add up, maybe after years of playing I will have saved a whole minute or two and can do something profound with it.  Found a refurb 28”on Amazon for $150 shipped.  Thanks Prime.  Good thing is I know it will fit in the backbox, because I have not built it yet.  I figure I will build to fit, so it should be perfect.

 

[court461]

Cabinet Start

Finally am ready to start the actual build.  Sketched up the front panel based on the plans.  Drilled some holes for buttons and what not.  I will wait until I get the plunger and tv fitted to drill that plunger hole to make sure I don’t screw it up.  Seems like I have a lot of buttons.  Is this a lot of buttons?  Why in the heck do I need so many buttons?  I know I need start, credit, launch ball.  Probably one for exit.  Maybe for each Hyperpin menu like flyer,  etc?  I probably should have asked that before I drilled the holes.  Oh well, I guess I can fill in later before painting if I decide not to use them all.

 

 

Looking at the plans, and the dimensions of my TV, the standard plans look to long.  I think I will shorten them.  Since I don’t have a real pinball next to it, I don’t think anyone will notice.  Anyone being my wife or 4 and 7 year old.  I think I will shorten by about 6 inches or so.  Since I will be shortening, I guess I need to drop the height some too, else the angle will be too steep.  I will just pick a arbitrary number of inches to shorten, rather than try and do some kind of trigonometry to figure out the correct angle.  This is supposed to be fun, I don’t want to think so hard.  Speaking of inches, seems like the entire pinball community is metric system.  Is this just a function of how many of the community are not in the US, or a function of something else?  I wish the US would have jumped on the metric system before I went to school.  I find it very hard to think in terms of mm when there is more than 60 or so.  If I see 695mm I have no idea in my head how big that is without converting first.

 

OK, have rough sketched out the side panel.  I will cut one and use a template for the other side.  This way, even if it is wrong, they will match.  

 

 

 

 

Rough put together.  I had to rework my front panel.  The holes were too close to the top, and too close to the sides.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I think these positions will be better.  Also, I skipped a few buttons this time.

 

 

Here is what the new front panel will look like with everything added.  Pay no attention to the holes I drilled around the start and credit buttons that I didn't need to, I will fill those in later.

 

 

And the lockbar fits!  I probably should have checked that before I glued the cabinet together.

 

 

So I have caught up with my current project.  This is where I am now, probably won't get anything done for a few weeks because I am going out of town.  So...to be continued.

Edited by court461, 12 June 2015 - 08:00 PM.

[court461]

The last thing I have done, is hook up all my monitors and try and get as many tables going as I can.  I think I have 30 or so totally complete and playable.  Another 20 or so that work, but need some kind of Hyperpin media to be complete, and some that just don't work that I will have to figure out.  All in all, I am pretty happy with this setup.  So happy, that I have wasted a lot of time already just playing pinball.  I am afraid my progress may stop now.

 

 

 

 

I do have one strange issue, for some reason my backglasses do not show up in Hyperpin.  I am sure I am missing something easy, but I can't figure it out.  I have verified my names are all the same for BG, table and Hyperpin.  I have changed the resolution in the Hyperpin settings file to match my BG monitor resolution.  In the hyperpin file it has playfield as primary, and BG as secondary which I guess is correct.  The playfields work flawlessly.  Any ideas what I am doing wrong?  Here is a crappy cell video of what happens when I run through Hyperpin, and you can see when I launch a table everything works great.

 

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube....bed/MZaE7bK2G0Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

 

Hmmm, can't figure out how to embed the video for some reason.

Edited by court461, 12 June 2015 - 08:16 PM.

[gtxjoe]

Make sure the media files are named the same as the xml Description field.  Since the playfield image is working, as a test copy the playfield image into the Backglass folder and see if it shows up.

 

If not post the Video section of the Hyperpin Settings.ini file.  Below is an example

[Video]

Playfield_Monitor   = Primary

Playfield_Rotation  = 270

Backglass_Monitor   = Secondary

Quality             = BEST

Table_Video_Enabled = false

Table_Video_Offset  = 50

Use_Backglass       = true

Backglass_Image_x   = 0

Backglass_Image_y   = 0

Backglass_Image_w   = 1280

Backglass_Image_h   = 1024

Backglass_Image_r   = 0

Backglass_Delay     = .1

 

 

Edited by gtxjoe, 12 June 2015 - 08:35 PM.

[randr]

Nothing personal but I just never understood the square buttons on a pinball? And soooo many?

[mviars]

Does time move faster where your at or something. Seems like you just started and now about ready to throw it together. 

 

I see you got the three monitors working together. That can be difficult at times especially when you just have one gfx card. well done.

 

1/2" seems pretty thin may 5/8" would have been better, Just make sure you brace any areas that might give in specially when moving it.

 

I found installing the legs to be a real pain in the but. You had to join your side to the front and back like I did without a biscuit joiner and a 45 degree cut which is fine but made drilling the leg holes much more difficult at least for me. I ordered the angled back braces for the inside the cab that the legs screw into. You can order them from this site. I think they help with the way you and I had to join our edges

Nothing personal but I just never understood the square buttons on a pinball? And soooo many?

 

Yeah I cant disagree with that either.

[court461]

 

Make sure the media files are named the same as the xml Description field.  Since the playfield image is working, as a test copy the playfield image into the Backglass folder and see if it shows up.

 

If not post the Video section of the Hyperpin Settings.ini file.  Below is an example

[Video]

Playfield_Monitor   = Primary

Playfield_Rotation  = 270

Backglass_Monitor   = Secondary

Quality             = BEST

Table_Video_Enabled = false

Table_Video_Offset  = 50

Use_Backglass       = true

Backglass_Image_x   = 0

Backglass_Image_y   = 0

Backglass_Image_w   = 1280

Backglass_Image_h   = 1024

Backglass_Image_r   = 0

Backglass_Delay     = .1

 

 

 

Thanks, I am going out of town when I leave work today, but I will try next week when I get back.  I appreciate the help.  I will post my findings.

Nothing personal but I just never understood the square buttons on a pinball? And soooo many?

Nothing personal taken.  Good question.  I have been asking myself the same thing.  I don't have a good answer, other than they came with the kit that I ordered.  I may fill them in and not use, like I said, I am pretty new at pinball in general.  How many buttons do you think I need.  Credit and Start only?  I guess I was thinking I could use if I used other functions for the computer (jukebox maybe, hyperpin shortcuts).  But I am not sold on the buttons, if they are not going to be used, I might as well save myself the wiring hassle.

Does time move faster where your at or something. Seems like you just started and now about ready to throw it together. 

 

I see you got the three monitors working together. That can be difficult at times especially when you just have one gfx card. well done.

 

1/2" seems pretty thin may 5/8" would have been better, Just make sure you brace any areas that might give in specially when moving it.

 

I found installing the legs to be a real pain in the but. You had to join your side to the front and back like I did without a biscuit joiner and a 45 degree cut which is fine but made drilling the leg holes much more difficult at least for me. I ordered the angled back braces for the inside the cab that the legs screw into. You can order them from this site. I think they help with the way you and I had to join our edges

Haha, I started a while back and took pictures but didn't start my build log until today.  There was weeks between thinking about starting and the end.  I can assure you the rest of the build will not go this fast.

 

Yeah, the 1/2 inch seems ok so far, but I don't have anything mounted in there yet, I will definitely be adding bracing.  And I did order the angled leg braces, hopefully they will be here when I get back from vacation.

[KOPTango]

Well done court, it's looking great! I'm also an accountant with no woodworking or electronics skills about to finish a mini cab. I think you have done a better job than me but I'm still happy with how mines going so far.

Re buttons - if you have a keyboard encoder that has a shift function it can halve the amount of buttons you need. I have 3 on the left for start, pause and exit and a launch button under my plunger on the right. I'll probably use shift to add credits and a couple of other things. That being said i have 6 buttons for mame on my lockdown bar ☺

Re front end. I was the same with Hyperpin but wanted to try Pinball x because of mame and Pinball Fx2. I don't like the look on pbx as much but it works really well. You can actually have both set up at the same time. There was a thread about this where you link the media directories in both front ends together and then you only have to update one. Then you can choose what one you like. The list functions (to create favourites) also work great in pbx if you have a child and lots of tables.

Looking forward to seeing your final product ☺

[viktory2k1]

WOW, you are way ahead of me! I have been at mine for months and have no clue about the 3 monitor setup. I have a log here. I have woodworking skils and computer skills but no money and some of the home made electronics confuse me, especially the home brew booster boards. Now no will want to think about force feedback. What PC did you end up going with? I ordered an Asus h81 micro ATX but DOA and the video card covered all the front panel pins so I am returning it for a MSI H81 which it looks like nothing is in the way. Sweet work, I didn't find the legs all that bad. I measured where the holes would be and chiseled a flat spot on the corner and used a piolet hole befor the big bit. Done in 30 mins, all 4. Now I got my old PC to work, the one I thought died 2 weeks after I got it so I am going to try that but still going with a new cheapo except the I5. I got the mobo for free from amazon for a refund on a speaker system I got. I noticed that kit sure comes with a lot od rectangle buttons so I didn't put them all on but I still overdid it I think. I am not using a case and you can get a momentary button and place it underneath at the fron to turn it on. My playfield tv remembers last state nomatter how long unplugged but the 32 backbox doesn't. Remember, if you need to use the remote to make the IR detecter visable to the controller.

Great job! I will figure out the software soon. Still getting the old PC updated and all.

Take care,

Vic

[court461]

Yeah, have not even thought about force feedback yet. That is way over my head. Someone needs to make a kit haha. I am going to build mine first without and then maybe add later. I am following your build, I enjoy it. This is a fun project, I am enjoying the process. Thanks for comments!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[noiseprisoner]

Just a couple thoughts for ya... I mounted four buttons under my cabinet; Volume up, volume down, pause, and exit. My time building and playing MAME cabs taught me to put the exit button somewhere it won't accidentally be pressed. I have it right in the center under the cab so it's easily accessible but totally out of the way. The volume up and down buttons are super nice to have as my speakers are mounted in the backbox and not accessible. Some tables are way louder than others so it's nice to quickly adjust the sound. Good luck, nice looking build!

Sent from my LG-V500 using Tapatalk

[viktory2k1]

Any progress? I should get some $$ this week so I can get it playable soon, the lighting and force feedback probably is easier then the 3 screen you did already so I wouldn't worry too much about that. I reaaly am impressed at how far you got in that short of a period of time. I think I started out with a similar story as yours.

Vic

[paymaster]

Keep in mind that since you shortened the sides, you will need to do something custom for the side rails (the plastic and metal trim pieces that hold the glass in place on the sides).

 

You can probably cut some existing rails without too much difficulty.  They are not too thick.

[BobAlbright]

Did you ever get your backglasses to show in Hyperpin? I was not seeing them either until I went with the latest version of fplaunch