9 replies to this topic

[Tweegster]

I'm looking at re-working my pinball cabinet on my days off (I work 4 days on and have 4 days off) so I thought this would be a great time to re-work my tutorialand I was wondering if anyone has any idea's on how I could make it better.

The one things I would like to add is how to setup and configure a real DMD but that will have to wait as I don't have the funds to purchase one and or the interfaceboards. So maybe in the next revision? ... Unless someone would like to donate some :-)

Topics I would like suggestions on....

websites / forums / Resource sites: what websites do you find useful in regards to Arcade / Pinball machines? Alternate languages for our non english readers would be nice. I would also like to see site's with plans / blueprints for building cabinets.

Parts / dealers / Suppliers: Places to purchase assorted buttons, interfaceboards etc. I would like to add a section for North America / Europe / Germany / Australia etc.

Cabinet Software: What User Interface do you use on your Arcade / Pinball cabinet(s). What other software do you have installed to Tweak your setup.

System Requirements / Suggestions:
What are the "Official" Required / Reccommended system requirments

• Overclocking: CPU + Motherboard combination settings and suggestions
• CPU Heatsink Suggestions: With regards to overclocking.
• SSD VS Standard HDD: Pro's / Con's
• Video card suggestions: for different price ranges, Budget, Mid level, Pro and Money's no issue.

Interface hardware like the iPAQ: Wiring buttons, speakers, etc. Tips and tricks.

What topics would you put in and or add to existing topics ?

I'm sure I could come up with more topics but I would like to hear from the community about this.

Maybe someone would be as kind as to translate the tutorial when finished to alternate languages ?

If there are any local's from the Greater Vancouver BC Canada area that would like to work on this with me that would be great.

Thanks in advance to everyone for your suggestions and your idea's on how I can improve this tutorial.

Edited by Tweegster, 27 October 2012 - 02:19 AM.

[Aurich]

I dunno that this is something you'd want to do, but my first thought for a tutorial that's "missing" (I've never seen one) would be this:

There are plenty of rough plans for building cabinets out there (basic dimensions). There are places to get real parts. But not everyone has access to a real Williams widebody machine, for instance, to see how it really goes together.

An annotated pictorial guide to cabinet construction I guess is what I'm getting at. ("This is the H channel that goes between the speaker panel and the translite, it fits like thus etc"). Would be an excellent companion for people not only when building and designing, but for when shopping for parts, so they could understand what they needed.

[Tweegster]

I was going to be taking some pictures of the inside of my pinball cabinet to use as a reference for a quick "how to wire / connect buttons etc"
I could also take ome more pictures to show as an example how I mounted my back glass / dmd lcd... its not pretty but it does the job

[Tweegster]

!!BUMP!!

Anyone have any suggestions ?

[marauder]

Hi, Tweegster.

First of all, thank you very much for your tutorial! I've already followed it a couple of times and it *is* pretty much complete for the average person to get their pinball setup going. I have an UltraPin which I pretty much rebuilt from scratch and I used your guide to re-install it and it worked flawlessly. As far as software goes, it's pretty much complete for basic stuff. You could expand your guide to additionally cover B2S tables (how to setup and configure), how to adjust some FS tables using layback and field of view and maybe cover other pieces of software that can enhance the experience for cabinets.

If you could add hardware to your guide, that would be really sweet. I want to further enhance my cab with a real DMD, force feedback and lights and I'm just picking pieces from different places and trying to put it all together to figure it out.

If you need help getting your guide translated into Portuguese, I'd be glad to help.

[xio]

It looks a bit too computer harware related imho, do O/C & SSD take such an important place in cabs ?

Good idea to give GPU suggestions though (never buy an optimus laptop !).

Maybe you can also say something about TVs : what to buy, how to put them in the cab and the backglass, how to connect it to the computer

I'll tell you if something else come. I wrote a walkthrough of my building on a french forum, that could give ideas about what we're forgetting.

[faralos]

how about a troubleshooting area? Like if so and so does not work then you do this
or should this thing be smoking that much when turned on?
ya' know things like that may make or break a cab builder
if he/she cannot find the answer he/she may just give up on a build
or trying to fix the boo boo

[Tweegster]

you can find some older pictures of my machines on facebook

I went with an SSD because when you have HyperPin setup to play back the sample videos I found it got choppy when going through the table list on a standard hard drive. Switching to an SSD helped improve it the switching between tables and video load times, table load times also improved a fair bit I found.

[Flying Dutchman]

1./ A little about VP's history and the develop-stages that Pincab's had to go through to get to a stage where they are today (hardware / software).

2./ Where to park / send resources to like Playfield images / Backglass images etc., so readers / owners of pins know instantly were their contributions can be uploaded / send to, without having to take the effort of wading through forums ..

3./ Differences described of 2- 3-screen (or 2 screen & DMD) setup ..
4./ Differences described when choosing for a 37", 40" or > in conjunction with the size of cabinet (standard sized, widebody, tailer-made).


Cheers,
FD.

[MiguelLeao]

Hi to all,

Your first tutorial was extremelly helpfull for me. Thank's alot.

What I would like to see on "next stage tutorial" is a little more information about cabinet construction (like some other users already said):
- how many buttons and for what,
- what material to pick (wood, TVs, PCs, buttons and others),
- some information about computer specs was awesome,
- some information about gadgets like shaker, LEDS, strobes, nudge and boards for interface with these gadgets (with a schematic example was extreme ),
- a simple informatoin about script of B2S like you have done extremelly well to UVP.

Thank's again for your first tutorial,
Miguel Leão

EDIT: BTW, if you need something of 2D CAD, like the cabinet, the schematic or other things, PM me.

Edited by MiguelLeao, 30 November 2012 - 09:45 PM.