Spacegoogie Posted May 9 Posted May 9 I’ve been a Visual Pinball user for around 24 years now. Like most people, I started with a single screen. Then came the backglass monitor. Then another screen. Before long, you want it to feel more and more like a real machine, so you start building cabinets and custom setups to house everything. Then PuP-Packs arrived… and suddenly you needed even MORE screens. 😄 Over the years I’ve probably built a dozen different cabinets and setups. Just a few years ago I had a full custom 4-screen cab that I absolutely loved. Then in 2025 I picked up a Quest 3 and decided to finally give VPX VR a real shot. It completely blew me away. Honestly, THIS was what I had been waiting for all along. Once I got everything dialed in and running smoothly, I was hooked. The 4-screen cabinet eventually came down, and a VPin Sim Cab was born. I used that VR cabinet setup for a little over a year, but over the past few months I realized something: I didn’t even want to walk away from my desk anymore to stand at the sim cabinet. Instead, I found myself standing right at my desk using a small custom pinball controller I built. It was simpler, easier, and honestly just fit my life better. Living in a small one-bedroom apartment means space matters. My desk is an L-shaped rising desk, but a few months ago I removed the “L” section. I really missed having that extra workspace back, but the only way to reclaim it was to get rid of the VPin Sim. That got my brain going. I started thinking about how I could somehow make the VPin Sim PART of the desk itself. One of my desks originally came with two shelves. A while back I turned one of them into a custom pinball controller so I could still stand and play comfortably at my desk. Looking at it one day, it hit me: “If I remove these side pieces, I could mount it underneath the desk… then add this… then that…” And just like that, the project started. This morning I finally made the decision to fully tear down the VPin Cab. I gutted the whole thing. The only parts I didn’t reuse were the front and rear tactile speakers and an original William's plunger. Ended up using a smaller plunger that connected to the KL25Z board the same way the William's did. The new setup runs through a 2.1 system + a mini shaker. Since I mostly play with headphones anyway, losing full 7.1 SSF really wasn’t a huge sacrifice for me (I really loved my 7.1 SSF). I also skipped lighting effects this time around. I wanted this build to stay as clean and simple as possible. Honestly, I’m a little sad seeing the cabinet go after all these years… but at the same time, this feels like the next evolution for me, and I’m genuinely happy with how it turned out. One of the coolest parts is that now the entire setup can be adjusted to the perfect height whenever I want. My Wife was impressed with me and what I did, That makes me really happy. Over the years, every cabinet and project I’ve built has been inspired by ideas from other VPX users and builders in this community. Seeing everyone’s custom creations has always sparked ideas for me, and that’s one of the reasons I still love sharing my own VPX journey after all these years. Hopefully something here sparks an idea for someone else too. Cheers!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now