167 replies to this topic

[jbg4208]

Which do you like better, the strap or the stick?
 
 

 
I would definitely go with the stick.....the motion seems better/smoother.  
 
If you are planning on trying it out, keep me posted.  Looking to get some more feedback on the idea.
 
:David

Mine turned out great! Thanks for the work on this. Gave me a plunger solution with stuff I already had.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Brer Frog]

 

Which do you like better, the strap or the stick?

 

 

 

I would definitely go with the stick.....the motion seems better/smoother.  

 

If you are planning on trying it out, keep me posted.  Looking to get some more feedback on the idea.

 

:David

 

 

I'm doing a budget mini-pin build & was going to just use a launch button. But you got me thinking about a plunger. The cabinet is built but I have not drilled the front panel holes yet. I'll see how things progress in the next week or so.

[rockhouse]

any one tried on windows 7?

[alonia]

Hey,

Why you use the Laser? (inaccurate)

I think the wheel is better.

have you test it with the wheel?

cheers

[hlr53]

Wow, can't believe I missed this thread. What a clever idea! Maybe I can steal my wife's gaming mouse - LOL She is not a gamer but the buttons have a super light touch that help prevent carpal tunnel.

[a2597]

This is an awesome idea....

Totally going to add this to my cab now, have a small launch button, but always planned to do a virtual plunger at some point. You just made it possible far far earlier!

[NailBuster]

Mine turned out great! Thanks for the work on this. Gave me a plunger solution with stuff I already had.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

cool!!   did you find the install instructions were ok to follow?  Did you have to change any settings in INI file for your mouse?  

 

I'm assuming you used a paint-stick?  any photos of install....I always like photos

 

oh,  did you try anything other than vpx 10?  pinball fx?

 

:David

Hey,

Why you use the Laser? (inaccurate)

I think the wheel is better.

have you test it with the wheel?

cheers

 

not sure I follow... I would assume the optical mouse has way more dpi than the wheel button on the mouse...also,  it would be hard to make a 'clean' contact with a wheel mouse button....or do you mean a 'ball mouse' vs 'optical mouse', or maybe you're taking about non-plunger use?  

 

Also,  with this setup the stick never really makes contact or any moving parts of the mouse so it would last a lot longer....  maybe replace a paint-stick/wood every 10,000 pulls

any one tried on windows 7?

I don't have a windows7 box to test...but I my guesstimate is that it will work fine.  It doesn't use any .net framework or anything like that...

Edited by NailBuster, 06 October 2017 - 11:10 PM.

[Brer Frog]

NailBuster -

 

What Windows version are you using, 8.1 or 10?

Edited by Brer Frog, 07 October 2017 - 12:15 AM.

[jbg4208]

Mine is a bit more unconventional. It's a mini cab so not much room. With the placement of my cab speakers and a hard drive, I had to move the plunger mouse back a bit further. Using a 1/8 the inch compressed cardboard for the slide. Zip tied and taped a garden stake for the extra length that was needed. Using a bolt, washers and some springs from an old printer tray for the plunger. Works fantastic.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[NailBuster]

interesting setup/solution,  it's pretty tight in there!  

NailBuster -

 

What Windows version are you using, 8.1 or 10?

 

I have only tested windows 10....

Edited by NailBuster, 08 October 2017 - 04:31 PM.

[Brer Frog]

I tried this with Windows 7 and playing a DT VPX table. The instructions say "You need to configure Visual Pinbal X to use Plunger only once". However I'm not running Pinball X, so I ignored this step.

 

I could not hide the cursor since I'm playing DT, so I changed the hide cursor to "0".

 

I clicked on & ran mouseplunger.exe and in the window could see the x-coordinates change as the mouse moved.

Then I opened & ran a VPX table, but the plunger did not move with the mouse. I looked in the table's edit screen & looked at the plunger & the mechanical plunger was enabled.

 

Any suggestions what step(s) I'm missing?

[NailBuster]

I tried this with Windows 7 and playing a DT VPX table. The instructions say "You need to configure Visual Pinbal X to use Plunger only once". However I'm not running Pinball X, so I ignored this step.

 

Any suggestions what step(s) I'm missing?

 

you need to follow that step to configure Visual Pinball X.   I assume "Visual Pinball X" is the same as VPX?  Maybe you thought I meant PinballX (the menu system)? 

 

The exe will translate the mouse movements into joystick movements....so whichever software you are playing your tables needs to be setup to expect plunger on the rY axis of the joystick.

 

Let me know how it goes...  you probably have to lower the delta variable(in INI file) when using DT mode.  Are you just testing DT mode or are you planning on using a 'real' plunger later on?  

 

:David

[Brer Frog]

Thanks, I did think PinbalX referred to the menu system. I made the plunger change in the correct place & it works with Windows 7 in DT mode!

It is awkward to use this way but does work. However any given mouse cursor position on the screen does not always provide the same plunger location. To get the plunger in it’s default position sometimes the cursor is in the center of the screen’s “x” axis, sometimes the cursor needs to be far left or right. Just moving the mouse back & forth changes it relationship with the plunger. IOW the cursor does not stay in sync with the plunger.

Any idea why this is happening & how to fix it?

 

I'm just testing this in DT mode. I'm building a mini-cab & was just going to use a launch button to keep things simple & cheap. But your paint stick plunger has got me thinking.

Edited by Brer Frog, 10 October 2017 - 02:16 AM.

[Brer Frog]

I think I got it figured out - the plunger automatically resets to its default position after a certain period of time.

[cyberpez]

I gave this a try on my win7 cab.  because of space I had to rotate my mouse 90 degrees clockwise and put it on its side. (sorry I did not get a pic) When I pull my plunger the pointer (un-hidden) moves left and right (not up and down)  my vp plunger does nothing.  I tried changing vp to be rX(along with rZ, X,Y,Z and a reverse of each)..  but that did not do anything either

 

Your mouse program shows movement..  but I wonder if you are only sending the Y value to VPX?

 

btw..  thanks for the idea..  so simple.  Can't wait till I get things straitened out!!!  Going to be sweet!

[NailBuster]

I gave this a try on my win7 cab.  because of space I had to rotate my mouse 90 degrees clockwise and put it on its side. (sorry I did not get a pic) When I pull my plunger the pointer (un-hidden) moves left and right (not up and down)  my vp plunger does nothing.  I tried changing vp to be rX(along with rZ, X,Y,Z and a reverse of each)..  but that did not do anything either

 

Your mouse program shows movement..  but I wonder if you are only sending the Y value to VPX?

 

btw..  thanks for the idea..  so simple.  Can't wait till I get things straitened out!!!  Going to be sweet!

 

yes currently it only works the way I installed it(it only detects motion in the Y).  I'd need to add option to support 'rotate'...  give me a bit and I'll PM you a file to test out.    

 

Which way do you have it rotated?  I assume the mouse cable is facing the backbox?

 

David

[cyberpez]

Cool thanks,  Correct the mouse cable points towards the back of the cab (backbox)

[persichini]

I'm interested in the steps you took to get this to work with Pinball FX2...

[NailBuster]

Try this and let me know...

 

Pinball fx2 only works with a 360 controller so I had to use a 3rd party emulator here:  http://www.x360ce.com/ 

copy the x360exe into the steam/steamapps/common/pinballfx folder (where pinballfx2.exe is located) and run.

Configure x360ce so that the right stick Y-Asix is IAxisY (vjoy).  

 

 

Also, I didn't know people were still interested in this... I have an updated exe you can try:  www.nailbuster.com/nailcode/MousePlunger_v070.zip

 

let me know how it goes

Edited by NailBuster, 21 December 2017 - 04:02 PM.

[persichini]

Still interested? I just started my journey...