Jump to content

New cab builder looking for help


Yskonyn

Recommended Posts

Hello pinheads!

 

I've very proudly been able to build my very first digital pinball cabinet from old pc parts and Sharpin's kit parts. I am absolutely delighted it worked and very proud of what I have done. It's the first time ever I've done something like this and I am so happy to now have a bartop-sized digital pinball machine ready to be played at home!

My family is also very enthousiastic. Several tournaments have been played already.

 

Currently, I am running Pinball FX3 by Zen Studios as the only pinball game, but since I've discovered Visual Pinball I am very much looking forward to getting that to work on my machine as well.
Therefore I would like to request some help with getting started. It seems like the software needs plugins or dependencies and it all looks a little like spaghetti for the uninitiated.
I am looking for a basic step by step guide on how to get started and a few pointers on what to look for next when the basic framework is up an running.

 

Thank you very much in advance!

Ysk

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is  one of the most helpful guides out there. It's brilliant.

 

Pinscape Build Guide

 

Chapter 16 has a lot of information on setting up the SW side of things.  But it **IS** spagetti.  Look up Terry Red and Major Frenchie on Youtube and check out the sections on DOF / DOFLINX etc when yuo want to go further with lights and toys..... etc... I managed to get a prety good setup going by reading the linked guide and jumping off to individual SW components as an when that guide mentioned them.

 

TIP: Start simple... Get tables running and looking how you want.. then mess with Backglasses, DMDs, lights feedback etc. and always backup your config!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the pointer! It does look to be VERY comprehensive!

 

luckily I do know how to find my way around hardware and software configurations, so I am sure I’ll get it sorted. It’s just quite overwhelming if you haven’t been in the scene.

 

I’ve also come to understand there has been some sort of split in the community and a withdrawing of a big community site recently. Will that make my quest any harder at this point?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@LegoYoda the pointers you gave me got me a few steps further! Many thanks!

 

I have now been able to configure 2 tables to show up correctly on my display. One of those doesn't show a backglass, even though it has been dowloaded and installed for it, so I need to look a bit further into that.

Regardless, I've got Terminator 2 working, including the backglass.

Next problem however, is how to configure my arcade buttons to register in VP.

I've browsed through the Preferences menu and found the button assignments, but selecting a Button number doesn't seem to relate to my controller board for some reason.

In PinballFX I have configured them as a 'Xbox Controller' in Steam and they work flawlessly, but I think I might need some additional wiz in the case of VP.

I'd like some pointers from the masters at this forum, please, as the Pinscape guide doesn't go into configuring controls specifically.

 

Nonetheless, great steps have been made in just one evening! Happy so far!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are your buttons running through a keyboard encoder? like an iPAC or are you using an arcade controller "thing".

So, as an example, I have standard arcade Buttons wired to a keyboard encoder (iPAC2) so it's just a series of daisy chained GND wires to 1 terminal per button and 1 from the other terminal per button to the relevent port on the encoder.  This just acts as a keyboard in Windows/VPX so i just have keyboard mappings...   If you are using an Xbox controller it's different and you map the buttons to "joyButton1... etc"

 

One issue I ran in to was when running a front end (Pinball X) where It's button mappings overwrote the VPX button config everytime I started a table... if you're just running from VPX at this time that's not an issue...  Can you map the buttons specifically in VPX? (from the menu, the defaults are different between PFX and VPX)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, LegoYoda said:

Are your buttons running through a keyboard encoder? like an iPAC or are you using an arcade controller "thing".

So, as an example, I have standard arcade Buttons wired to a keyboard encoder (iPAC2) so it's just a series of daisy chained GND wires to 1 terminal per button and 1 from the other terminal per button to the relevent port on the encoder.  This just acts as a keyboard in Windows/VPX so i just have keyboard mappings...   If you are using an Xbox controller it's different and you map the buttons to "joyButton1... etc"

 

One issue I ran in to was when running a front end (Pinball X) where It's button mappings overwrote the VPX button config everytime I started a table... if you're just running from VPX at this time that's not an issue...  Can you map the buttons specifically in VPX? (from the menu, the defaults are different between PFX and VPX)

 

It's a game controller board where the Arcade buttons are plugged into and get translated as joystickbutton inputs and/or axis.

I figured it out, VPX had the wrong buttons assigned.

 

I've made yet more progress now! I have a table running correctly with its backglass showing and properly positioned DMD (freezy)! The buttons also work now. So by all accounts the table is playable! :D Awesome!

 

Another bump has presented itself as well, however; some tables do not use a ROM for the DMD (I now know how to configure that setup) and instead have a DMD window embedded into the VPX table. Often it's located to the side of the table in landscape mode. I am using a cabinet setup, so all tables need to be rotated, but the DMD cannot be moved it seems, at least I do not know how to.

For example, the Minions VPX table uses UltraDMD, but how can I present this DMD via the freezy DMD setup?

Or, in a more general sense, how can I move the DMD windows of the table to the backglass monitor when they are not using a ROM which can be tied into the external DMD plugin?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/10/2021 at 10:04 AM, Yskonyn said:

The problem is that this particular DMD is made of counless of separate digit “items” to make up the DMD.

I can’t seem to move them as a group.

 

I've been at this a while and I have no idea what you are experiencing with this statement.  Try Freezy 1.9.  It will help solve many of your DMD problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Thanks Bushav, it has since been solved. I was talking about the ‘digit objects’ in the VPX editor.

Turns out there are several DMD plugins that any given table might be using. From Freezy to others.

Its all spaghetti stuff to new users like me, but learning a lot every day!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
On 9/2/2021 at 10:08 AM, Yskonyn said:

Thanks for the pointer! It does look to be VERY comprehensive!

 

luckily I do know how to find my way around hardware and software configurations, so I am sure I’ll get it sorted. It’s just quite overwhelming if you haven’t been in the scene.

 

I’ve also come to understand there has been some sort of split in the community and a withdrawing of a big community site recently. Will that make my quest any harder at this point?

There hasn’t been a split in the community recently... well one that anyone would miss anyway. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
  • Create New...