91 replies to this topic

[Pete248]

I have 90% of the components ready to build a VP cabinet, only the cabinet itself is missing. And now many say VR gives a much better experience for VP and is the future of VP.

Question to those who own a cabinet and have experience with VPVR: Would you still build a VP cabinet now or go full VR with probably a small box holding just the buttons and probably plunger, shaker and PC?

Edited by Pete248, 27 August 2021 - 07:55 AM.

[Rawd]

I have both.

 

I think it comes down to personal preference, but this is my experience...

 

I way prefer VR, and I rarely, if ever, turn on my full sized cabinet anymore. 

 

I built my first VP cabinet in 2009, and my current one is my fourth build.   I am super proud of the build, and spent hundreds (if not thousands) of hours playing it by myself, and with friends.  I said I would never sell it, because it is something I am really proud to have built, but if someone made me a decent offer, I think I would sell it now.

 

I built a separate 'Stubby' cab for VPVR and I love it and play it every day.  Once you experience VPVR with a good setup (PC, GPU and Headset, and Stubby), you will understand fully.  It almost feels like you are actually playing the real machine.. Videos do not do it justice.. It is really an amazing thing.   It just feels way more natural to be able to lean in and look at your shots, or duck down a bit to look under a ramp. You can go and walk behind the machine if you want to

 

A really nice side benefit, is there is absolutely no TV/Monitor lag to the flippers, as it runs at a solid 90+fps.

 

 

There are some cons...

 

VPVR is not social -  We do not have any online multiplayer, and sharing a headset with friends is kind of grody, and they cant really see properly while another person is playing.  It is pretty much a loner sport for now.

VR is still in development - VR has come a really long way in the last 7 years, and made leaps and bounds in the last few years, but it is still not perfect.  Depending on the headset you buy, there are differences with resolution and image quality.   The image that you see in VR is not as clear as looking at a 4K screen (especially for objects that are further away).  It is constantly getting better, and I never complain, but just making you aware that you need a pretty decent pc/GPU to run it at a decent 'resolution' (supersampling).

VPVR does not have as many tables yet - That said, we have over 200 now, and the list is growing daily

 

I highly recommend VR, But if you're looking for a social experience with family and friends, I would say to build the full sized cabinet. (you can always add VR to that also)

Edited by Rawd, 27 August 2021 - 08:26 AM.

[Snwfrd38]

Hi Pete

 

I have the cabinet - I'm living west Munich if you're around - and I tried VPVR as well. Rawd explained very well the pros and cons. For me the lack of "Being in the room with friends" is what makes me prefer the real cabinet. The VPVR disconnect me from the pinball itself - while technically it's really nice I however never felt a very solid / in the moment experience. It felt more like a demo and something after few minutes I was not really happy to play anymore. Cabinet gives me a lot of pleasure and it's always nice indeed to share with friends.

At the end I believe it's more a personal choice than one is better than the other one. If you build a cabinet - go for a full size as well as it gives the right feeling too.

 

Best,

[wiesshund]

I have 90% of the components ready to build a VP cabinet, only the cabinet itself is missing. And now many say VR gives a much better experience for VP and is the future of VP.

Question to those who own a cabinet and have experience with VPVR: Would you still build a VP cabinet now or go full VR with probably a small box holding just the buttons and probably plunger, shaker and PC?

 

I would build a cabinet myself

Consumer VR to me is an overpriced toy.

 

Pain in the butt to play with if you wear glasses, and unfortunately i do not think any of the consumer VR hardware has actual
focusable lenses.

 

The consumer grade stuff i have the opportunity to play with also gives me a headache, probably from eye strain cause i can not focus it
milspec stuff i have no problem with, but i can focus it, of course it also has a lot of digits in it's price tag.

 

Another downside is, you can not see your beer or nachos through VR
blindly fumbling for your beer and spilling it makes you cry, and stuffing your hand dead center in a pile of nachos isnt exactly fun either.

As noted, you also can not play with anyone else aside from tossing a headset back and forth, and they can not really watch you play, and you cant look around the room

 

I also seem to see people constantly running into annoying problems with VR, could just be a them thing, i dont know there
but at least a cab, it will just work 

 

And the same amount of money for a PC that can run a cab will not get you VR, you need more video power for it to run well, VR is terrible if you can not keep a high frame rate
if it bounces around, you really notice it in VR.

 

There is currently only one headset that i sort of like the picture on, though it is still not as clear as looking at a good screen but that headset is like 6 or 7 hundred dollars
and the other ones that people have, that i have tried out, just kill my eyes, might not be as bad if VR headsets could be focused, but they cant that i have seen yet

 

But, for other people, it is great, they love it.

 

I can think of some things i would like VR for, if there was a headset that was decent for me and didnt require a pentagon budget to buy.
It would be awesome in a combat flightsim, with head tracking, and i bet some day someone will invent a VR suit with body tracking etc which could be fun in an FPS
well up to the point where you dive across the room and put your head through the drywall or something

[Rawd]

 

I have 90% of the components ready to build a VP cabinet, only the cabinet itself is missing. And now many say VR gives a much better experience for VP and is the future of VP.

Question to those who own a cabinet and have experience with VPVR: Would you still build a VP cabinet now or go full VR with probably a small box holding just the buttons and probably plunger, shaker and PC?

 

Consumer VR to me is an overpriced toy.

 

- $299 for Quest 2 is not bad.  Many awesome standalone titles that you don't even need a PC for.

 

Pain in the butt to play with if you wear glasses, and unfortunately i do not think any of the consumer VR hardware has actual
focusable lenses.

 

- Not sure if Quest 2 has them, but I know you could order custom prescription lenses for the CV1.

 

The consumer grade stuff i have the opportunity to play with also gives me a headache, probably from eye strain cause i can not focus it
milspec stuff i have no problem with, but i can focus it, of course it also has a lot of digits in it's price tag.

 

- Things have improved quite a bit recently.  Having the proper Lense/IPD adjustment and having the heastrap on properly is very important to keep things focused properly.

 

Another downside is, you can not see your beer or nachos through VR
blindly fumbling for your beer and spilling it makes you cry, and stuffing your hand dead center in a pile of nachos isnt exactly fun either.

 

- You can now double tap the side of the headset at any time, to see a pass-through view of your real life surroundings.

 

I also seem to see people constantly running into annoying problems with VR, could just be a them thing, i dont know there
but at least a cab, it will just work 

 

- No problems here.

 

You need more video power for it to run well, VR is terrible if you can not keep a high frame rate, if it bounces around, you really notice it in VR.

 

- Very accurate and true, but things have also improved in this field with Time-Warp and Space-Warp technologies

 

I can think of some things i would like VR for, if there was a headset that was decent for me and didnt require a pentagon budget to buy.
It would be awesome in a combat flightsim, with head tracking, and i bet some day someone will invent a VR suit with body tracking etc which could be fun in an FPS
well up to the point where you dive across the room and put your head through the drywall or something

 

- This is already a reality.  Like I said, you can walk behind the machine in VPVR.   Also, I have put my hands through my ceiling a couple times trying to catch virtual frisbees    In fact, I turned the guardian off in my house, Mapped my entire home in VR, and I can walk around casually with my headset on in my house, but in a VR world   fun times ahead.

 

 

 

[gtxjoe]

I would do both build a cab and get a Quest

Quest is so cheap at $299
If you are building a cab with 4k playfield it can be you VR PC setup so no extra cost
If you wear glasses, you can get custom Rx lenses for $79
Need to look around to get a beer, double tap the side of the Quest and you can have your beer and walk around the house
It looks like overall VR is easier to setup and play. This forum must have hundreds of thousands of posts from people asking questions about their cab setup and taking years to build it

Edited by gtxjoe, 27 August 2021 - 01:05 PM.

[tgx]

Cabinet hands down. Just remember 'cabinet' is flexible.

You don't have to stick with a traditional layout. Your cabinet

can also power your VR to get the best of both.

[ludovids]

Is it possible to drive both a monitor/tv (in split screen, I guess) and a VR headset simultaneously, so non-players can see on the monitor/tv what the player is doing?

[lizard]

I am pretty much the same as Rawd. Built my cab in 2010 and just finished my pinstubby with sound and feedback. I don't even fire up the cab to play myself anymore the difference is night and day but as mentioned the cabinet comes into its own when playing multiplayer. All depends on how you play most of your pinball i guess.

[Pete248]

Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

I still tend towards building a cab with a beefed up CPU/GPU to handle VR as well.

@Rawd Why did you build a stub cab when you already have a full size cab?
Does your stub cab hold the PC parts as well?

@Snwfrd38 Thanks for the offer but while Im indeed from Germany Im not living in Bavaria.

@wiesshund What is the only headset you find acceptable. I also were glasses and dont like to watch pixelated content.

Edited by Pete248, 27 August 2021 - 02:06 PM.

[studlygoorite]

I also would do both and have both. Using the cab as a controller in VR is awesome (it's a totally different experience), it feels and looks real but having the cab with friends or family over is awesome too. If I was to do it again I would build another full cab and add VR to get the best of both worlds.

[Pete248]

I am pretty much the same as Rawd. Built my cab in 2010 and just finished my pinstubby with sound and feedback.

 

Why did you build another pinstubby and haven't use your cab for VR as well?

[Rawd]

@Rawd Why did you build a stub cab when you already have a full size cab?
Does your stub cab hold the PC parts as well?
 

The reason for this was because I actually built the 'Stubby' to play Pinball FX2 with about 5 years ago.   I never liked the physics, and didn't use it much until VPVR came out.    The Stubby is also more convenient to use in the room I am in with my main desktop PC (which I use for VPVR)

Is it possible to drive both a monitor/tv (in split screen, I guess) and a VR headset simultaneously, so non-players can see on the monitor/tv what the player is doing?

You can send your visuals out to a monitor, so people can watch that.  It's not very nice to watch though, and a top down view of the table would be much nicer (but I dont think this can happen).

[wiesshund]

I would do both build a cab and get a Quest

Quest is so cheap at $299

That is one that gives me a headache, for some reason it feels like i am trying to look through a perforated mesh
i had a really hard time trying to read text

 

 

@wiesshund What is the only headset you find acceptable. I also were glasses and dont like to watch pixelated content.

 

Reverb G2 or Vive 2 Pro, the Vibe looked a bit clearer, but colors seemed kind of muted
both are around 600 to 700 dollars, still can not wear them for very long though
Need younger better functional eyes i guess

[R4ND0M]

I'm also playing pinball in VR only nowadays and don't see any downside really, except the social part. Would be cool to have an additional fixed view on a big screen when playing with family + friends, I agree.

Edited by R4ND0M, 27 August 2021 - 05:56 PM.

[Ben Logan]

Great question. They’re different experiences, of course. Both great. That said,  I love VPVR so much I dismantled my cab 

[wiesshund]

If one already has a cab, why not redo the cab PC to be able to run VR, if it doesnt have enough power, and then run VR from the cab?

 

You still get the VR part, plus the physical part that VR does not have and that a stubby kind of lacks cause, well it is a stubby so it doesnt weigh the same
and what not.
Then you still have a cab for multi player games when you have company or what not.

 

Just wondering cause i see a number of people taking their cabs apart?

[Ben Logan]

If one already has a cab, why not redo the cab PC to be able to run VR, if it doesnt have enough power, and then run VR from the cab?

 

You still get the VR part, plus the physical part that VR does not have and that a stubby kind of lacks cause, well it is a stubby so it doesnt weigh the same
and what not.
Then you still have a cab for multi player games when you have company or what not.

 

Just wondering cause i see a number of people taking their cabs apart?

I did that for a while and enjoyed both. After a year or so I realized I just wasn’t using the cab. We have a small house. At some point, the garage space became more valuable than the cab. 
 

don’t get me wrong though — I loved that cab for ten years or so!

[lizard]

 

I am pretty much the same as Rawd. Built my cab in 2010 and just finished my pinstubby with sound and feedback.

 

Why did you build another pinstubby and haven't use your cab for VR as well?

 

Really only because i love building shit and didn't feel like upgrading the pc in the cab. 

 

 

 

If one already has a cab, why not redo the cab PC to be able to run VR, if it doesnt have enough power, and then run VR from the cab?

 

You still get the VR part, plus the physical part that VR does not have and that a stubby kind of lacks cause, well it is a stubby so it doesnt weigh the same
and what not.
Then you still have a cab for multi player games when you have company or what not.

 

Just wondering cause i see a number of people taking their cabs apart?

 

I wanted a separate VR PC for other stuff also so having to fire up the cab to play racing sim didn't seem logical. My pinstubby is the front foot of a williams machine and is packed full contactors power supplies

speakers coin door so i still weighs a fair bit so you can still nudge reasonably well.

 

 

http://vpforums.org/.../pinstubby0.jpg

[wiesshund]

 

 

 

I wanted a separate VR PC for other stuff also so having to fire up the cab to play racing sim didn't seem logical. My pinstubby is the front foot of a williams machine and is packed full contactors power supplies

speakers coin door so i still weighs a fair bit so you can still nudge reasonably well.

 

 

http://vpforums.org/.../pinstubby0.jpg

 

 

Well that makes sense, though i am not sure i would have room for the stubby, after i finished the FW-190 or P-51 cockpit.
I am not sure i would have room for a whole lot of stuff if i built one of those
Maybe i could nudge with the rudder? LOL

 

 

 At some point, the garage space became more valuable than the cab. 

 

Your mind isn't in the right place
That is not a garage, it is a small arcade just waiting to be assembled