Virtual Pinball 101: what I made and what I learned
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- Опубликовано: 3 апр 2020
- After watching many videos of virtual pinball tables, I found the courage to make my own; here's my VP story. If you decide to try it for yourself - and you really should do it YOURSELF - allow me to suggest the All-in-One installer, found here (and no, there's no virus and it's not broken): www.vpforums.org/index.php?ap...
Check out mjrnet.org for Mike Roberts' guide. It's comprehensive, detailed, and approachable. You can do this!
(Note: if you're seeing ads, it's from RUclips, not me. I get no reimbursement from my virtual pinball videos.) 
Игры
Kudos to you man. Nice build. I appreciate the respect that you have for our Vp community.
Thanks. I love the community and hope to contribute someday.
I have started my own journey and this makes me so excited.
I'm excited for you! Good luck.
Wonderful work. Very polished. Love explaining the very details, there is much to learn. Thanks you for sharing.
You're very welcome! It's really a two-monitor desktop running an emulator, with the right kind of buttons built in. The MJR guide is the best resource out there, IMO.
I think you did a good job. Each person who is into this hobby has their own criteria for making a pinball cabinet. It is a hobby that if you put everything you really want you will spend a lot but with pride. An observation that I could see in your video. It would be very good to protect the playfield with a good thick glass so that they don't damage your tv screen or if something falls on it like the atari cassette that you have on top of your cabinet. Very well explained everything. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks, Mian! I do have a custom-made piece of glass from glass.com protecting my playfield. It cost about $65.
Very smart and beautiful to see you and your boy enjoying it 😊
Thank you! The more people play it, the more fun it is.
Been interested for a couple years to build one of these, at 19:29 that is so cool how real it looks!
Hope you've started building one!
I know the video is over a year old, and you might know of this already, but if you want a more “3D” experience without VR, look into adding a Xbox Kinect sensor to your cabinet and configuring BAM. It’s essentially head tracking that adjust the table as your head moves.
For tables that support it, it lets you “look around” objects on the table. It’s really cool and pretty straight forward to implement.
I’m in the Chicago area as well.
If you’ve ever wanted to add art to your cab, hit me up.
I could totally assist you with that. Great vid!
Thanks, Donald! I have artwork designed (based on my Magritte reference in another video) but need to get it printed. Most of my tables are VPX, and I think the Kinect experience only works with FP tables. Plus, the way my cab is designed, there's no room for a Kinect. But I think it's a cool idea, especially for people with one eye. ;)
Thanks for sharing this information! Very useful!
Way better than some commercial products on the market. The joy of DiY, as could as you can dream / afford / execute!
A frame of 4x4s with an Ikea bookshelf slapped on it... but it works! I can't complain.
This. Is. Beautiful. My tiny apartment has 2 Arcade 1ups in the process of being modded, and there's just no room for this. Oh, but at some point, I'm so using your video here as a reference point. I particularly love the giant monitor to emulate those old back bezels.
Thank you! Because I went with a 43-inch monitor for my playfield, neither standard or widebody cabinets would fit it just right, so I made my own. The lockbar isn't typical, but I made do. It's one-of-a-kind, and yours will be even better someday!
Hey that was an awesome video and love the machine u built A+
Can you link to the exact version of Cirqus Voltaire that you use?
Great 👍🏾 job! Kudos for an amazing job!
Thanks for sharing your build and thoughts. One thing that I would like to do on your
Cabinet is to make an arcade controller that you could attach to the table to play arcade games 🕹.
I think that the idea of vr pinball is awesome if done correctly, just imagine a Cabinet similar to yours but only with the buttons and the feedback stuff (sensors, coils, motors and all the fancy things that you will add next) you would be able to see a pinball table like a regular one, be able to walk around it and keep seeing all the glory of a real machine and using your cabinet to have the tactile feedback, so it would be possible to feel like it is a real table.
The bad thing about it is that we will need a much powerful computer and good vr googles, so I believe that the price of the project would be at least 2 times higher and in the first years we wouldn't have many tables with full support to the vr stuff
Joao, my current configuration (with the flimsy Ikea bookshelf as a shell) won't really allow arcade controllers and buttons to be easily installed. (Some pins, like Baby Pac-Man and Granny and the Gators, would benefit from a joystick.) The few pinball-arcade hybrids I've seen on-line have so many buttons and joysticks in the lockbar area that it ruins the look, IMO. Those who are into VR - and that seems to be the main push from designers on the shared sites right now - are happy with a "stubby" that can handle tactile feedback, but if someone wanted everything in one machine (pinball and arcade, VR and otherwise), I'm sure it could be done. For me, I'd rather just keep this and maybe build a small MAME cabinet elsewhere in my basement someday. Let me know what you make or already have!
This looks beautiful. awesome work man
by the way im using the EXACT same keyboard lmao
@@shamannoodles6200 I think many VP'ers use the exact same keyboard!
great build! That nudge!!!
what is the base screen that you are using?
Hey that's a really cool machine! I'm hoping to build one in the future too😀
Thanks. It can be done! But not overnight. Effort's required, but it's worthwhile.
Great job!
I love the multiple functions you've built into the table. And why not? Throw a wii in, use an older tv for backglass. Looks great man.
Thanks! The speakers from the plasma sound pretty good too, so I didn't need to come up with any additional audio system.
Awesome!!
I've made virtual pinball cabinets before and I like this. Looks clean, not as much work being there's no need to made backbox. Looks nice. I usually do the same thing and just throw a pc in there. Though would put legs on it
I hear ya. Mine's on wheels. I was very close to buying a widebody Virtuapin cabinet for a song. When that didn't happen, I decided to go rogue.
Great video man. I just started getting my son into my Virtual Pinball cabinet and he loves it.
Thanks! Let me know which tables you and your son like the most.
@@licoricewhip World Cup Soccer, Pizza Time, and Iron Man definitely get the most play.
Nice!
Thats really cool I played pinball in the 60' & 70's before I start playing video games in 1978 its been fun having the two worlds collide. I would love to have your setup but I really don't have the room. I have been looking at some tabletop video pinball options and play video pinball on my Xbox 1 & PS4 on a 65" 4k in my game room. I also bought a little device called a flip switch that allows me to play my switch in tate mode for a great handheld pinball experience.
Maybe VR would make sense for you. Another commenter here loves it. I definitely lack the room in my family room for a 65-inch 4K!
Great video and table. I’ve built one and now researching the virtual plunger. Did you buy the plunger as a complete setup? What are the components need for one? Thanks in advance.
Thanks! I'm very happy with the virtual plunger. The plunger and spring come from Pinball Life, out of Huntley, IL. The potentiometer and 3D-printed parts to connect them can be found at Michael Roberts' guide, which deserves to be read by everyone interested in this hobby: mjrnet.org/pinscape/BuildGuideV2/BuildGuide.php
So cool
Pinball is awesome
I purchased a VP pin that was already put together for me and as the program were completed.
Will or can I add more tables for me and beef up my game list and delete slot if the old, I have no idea how to do any of this.
Please help
Thanku
If it was put together for you, whoever did the putting together would be able to tell you. If it's a pre-fabricated machine, my guess is you won't be able to add more tables or upgrade easily (if at all). My advice is to enjoy what you got! But if you're really antsy for more tales and/or better hardware, I suggest you sell your current machine to someone else and start building a new one, taking the DIY route. I nearly bought a ready-made machine with 863 tables that could never be updated or upgraded, but I'm glad I went the more labor-intensive (but more satisfying) route instead.
Why you think you need to move to popper ? I run Y and haven't had any issues. Seems more have issues with Popper. Curious. THanks.
At the time of this filming, I thought I had to move to Popper, in order to get PuP-packs to work. But you're right; I don't need Popper. Only PinUp Player is needed for PuP-packs, and I hardly run those anyway. I've stuck with PinballY, which I like a great deal. Good to see that there are others that run PinballY!
Gorgar was my favorite Williams Pinball Machine
Fire is a great game. Released the year I was born!
i didnt think they had pinball back in the 1920s
So like, if you loaded up a rom of say, Doctor Who, would the screen emulate the pixelated screen art that went on the tiny screen where the score is, underneath the main, vertical graphic panel? Or would you have to raise the monitor higher, and add a bracket to hold that tinier, more pixelated screen?
You can place the DMD (dot matrix display) wherever you like! My Doctor Who DMD isn't that much bigger than the original, in order to see the seven Doctors at the very bottom of the backglass. Hope that helps.
A lot of cab builders have an extra display dedicated to the DMD... or an actual dot matrix display. My set-up's considered two-screen.
Your family seems really cool!
They are! I'll let them know.
The computer you used on your build is a fairly new computer. With MAME, you can use the cheapest/oldest computer and it will run fine. it will even run with a Raspberry PI. Does virtual pinball require a computer with a lot of horse power?
It depends. If you're fine with 1080 resolution on your playfield, then your computer need not be very powerful. If you want 4K, it's nice to have that power and a pretty good graphics card (which are tough to find right now). Fun can be had by running VPX on a good laptop! But I wanted a cabinet with 4K, 60 fps, and a computer that could handle anything the hobby develops in the coming years. So I'm future-proofed to an extent. But I've read that Raspberry Pi isn't a good option for virtual pinball; it's more demanding than MAME. Hope this helps.
I get the Windows water mark too but it doesn't appear until the machine has been on for around 2 or three hours. On my cabinet I limit the number of tables. I've got about 160 right now (all VPX) but I just recently ditched some tables as not being "up to scratch" visually. On your back glass screen you should be able to black out the edges and get rid of the Windows task bar at the bottom. It just neatens stuff up.
Agreed on the backglass. Got a different design now. Moved the toolbar to the left; it disappears when a table is being played.
Nice job on the virtual machine. What front end are you using? I am proud to own a collectors edition Addams Family machine that I'm thinking of selling 😢 and replacing with a virtual machine...not sure as I do love the real thing which I've owned for 12 years and is great fun to play.
I'm using PinballY as my front end. IMO, that and Pinup Popper are the only two to consider.
Maybe you could sell your Collector's Edition for a standard one and cash, and use that cash to build your virtual machine. Have your cake and eat it too!
nice DIY
Great job! I love that you were very practical. I saw that you did not auto login on boot. Maybe this is on purpose. For what it's worth there is a simple program called autologin from Sysinternals. It's very simple, just set it and done. Run it again and change it later. Sysinternals has been around forever for IT pros. Maybe part of Microsoft now. It's free.
Yeah, I set up my login to be a series of buttons on the front of my cab. I'm pretty happy with it, but I might check into autologin in the future. Thanks for the compliment!
Right click the backglass and select full screen so it fills up your backglass. Nice and creative build. I love pinball Y, I run it as well. PC was up there. I'm sure that i5 was pricey.
I like my backglass to keep its aspect ratio; not a fan of distorted images. Usually I have no background at all. Yeah, the computer wasn't cheap, but I wanted if to be (somewhat) future-proof.
licoricewhip i get that but it takes away from the allure of it being a Pincab. Besides b2s files are usually in 16:9 aspect ratio not 4:3 since most people run HD monitors/TVs for backglass so you wouldn’t be skewing the images at all.
I also need space for the DMD, and I like to make that part big when I can.
Harlem Globetrotters is my favorite pinball machine all time!
RIP, Curly Neal.
sorry but, how inches have your playfield? i do it a virtual pinball but i dont know how screen is better
Roberto, I have a 43-inch monitor for a playfield; nowadays, I leave a small gap on the sides to get it close to the real-life aspect ratio. In theory, any size monitor or TV would work, but playfields of actual pinball machines are more stretched out than all non-curved monitors and TVs, so nothing is perfect. Just go with what's best for your desires and budget.
@licoricewhip thanks you, so was switch my screen for someone more big, i hava a screen of 24 inch, it's so little.
@@robertoherrera7708 If you do switch, I strongly suggest a 4K screen of at least 60 Hz (frames per second). You could always consider VR goggles as well. Not my thing, but others like it.
Is the 1300 cost on the computer really necessary if you're planning on making just a pinball machine? I'm having difficulty finding minimum specs anywhere.
You can go cheaper, especially if you don't require 4K. I wanted my computer to be somewhat future-proof, and I wanted to handle Pinup Popper and the PuP-packs (though I haven't gone there yet). Maybe a good used gaming computer from one of many computer repair and sales places? Also, I know I've seen minimum requirements discussions on vpforums.org. It's worth checking again. Good luck!
From a graphics card standpoint, you should probably go no lower than a 1060. Ray-tracing (2060-2080) is not worthwhile for a pinball machine, IMO. My 1660 is the equivalent of a 1070, I've read. I usually get well over 60 fps on my 4K monitor.
Hey Seth. I got a i5 with a 1050 4gb MSI graphic card and 16gb ram in total it cost me £250. And that it . You can get many version of pinball via discord and backups. You down load the pack for free and your away. All you have to do is then build the pinball table with buttons using a Xbox one/360/pc brook universal board. A couple of screens and boxing.
I’m playing pinball on a cheap celeron processor machine just fine.
@@MobileDecay probably not in 4k just saying
Love the machines! We are wearing the same house shoes lol
Moccasins are the way to go these days!
I'm cheap so building something this expensive wont happen, can you get buy with an older pc?
Yes, you can! It's all a balancing act, so if you're willing to sacrifice on fps and resolution (and not care about PuP-packs), then you can make it work on an older PC. There's some unknown minimum requirement, as I tried to get it all running on my Celeron laptop many years ago and failed. But give it a shot with what you got! I bet that any decent not-so-new PC can run VPX at 30 fps on a 1080 screen. But the last thing I'd skimp on is the graphics card. Consider purchasing a decent-but-cheap gaming PC from a used computer store. There are tons of them in the suburbs. (And yes, I know that the $3K I spent on mine isn't "cheap," but compared to $8-12K for a new "actual" pinball machine, it is. Even used pinball machines are very expensive these days.) Good luck!
I noticed that you had Batman 66 on your machine while your wife was flipping through the tables. Does this work?? I didn't think this game existed in a playable form yet. Thanks.
www.vpforums.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=13652
Good question. It's not the Stern table, but from the link above.
nice job on this build ,
Thanks! It has flaws, but it plays nicely.
Home depot doesn't really do precision cutting
Yeah, you don't need to over do it on the budget. The machine is the most important part. You can grab monitors all over the place. And take your time. It does let you enjoy a bunch of games and even Pinball FX games and Star Wars and original tables. Soon even Indiana Jones! Way better than spending $10,000 for ONE table that you will master inside a month or two.
And also be constantly changing globes, rubbers, flippers etc. A real pain owning a real one.
And the panic when your $8000 Indiana Jones machine... starts malfunctioning... smoking... and catching on fire from a burnt solenoid. Yikes indeed. @@JayDee-xj9lu
Can your games store and save the high score?
Most can, yes. All solid-state (~1977 to now) machines can, I believe. For the EMs, some of them have been coded to show the top five (or just top one) high scores, which appear on the lower-right of the playfield as a Post-It note or piece of masking tape. I don't think all VPX tables are currently able to show them, though it might be merely a coding issue. Put it this way: any pinball table that originally kept high scores can do so here, and most of the others have a work-around.
where do you download the tables ?
I think virtual-pinball-spreadsheet.web.app is the best place to go.
Nice job man. Welcome to the hobby.
Thanks! Happy to be here.
@@licoricewhip I'm Jealous of your Fire machine. One of my favs.
@@licoricewhip You seem to have a healthy understanding of how the community works, and why it works that way. That is refreshing to see. :) A couple of opinions.. 1. Tilt is a huge part of pinball, and in my opinion it is a much needed component. Nudging is a big part of the gameplay, and if you don't have a tilt bob, there are no consequences, and then it's cheating :). 2. Once you try VP in VR I can guarantee that you will no longer think it is silly. :) It is very hard to get it across in a video on RUclips, but it is really an amazing experience. Have fun!
@@Rawd123 Thanks, Rod. I respect what everyone does, and how everyone has treated me. I've never been a big nudger; if I start doing it more, I'll look to see if the KL25Z can simulate a tilt, and that'll likely be enough for me.
Regarding VR... is there any need for a cabinet, then? Is it just putting on goggles? That's not tactile enough for me. My happy medium between completely actual (owning every table you want, complete with world's largest basement to hold them) and totally virtual ("The Matrix" comes to mind) is what I have now. VR's likely a blast, and I'm actually worried that artists in the community will work solely in VR.
Can you specify the exact name of the 43” monitor you used?
It's an Acer DM431K.
licoricewhip i just saw this monitor in Microcenter. The viewing angles are excellent. How’s the brightness on it?
Microcenter's awesome; hope you go with them for anything you need. The brightness is adequate; I've got my brightness all the way up but it's satisfactory. Also, on the bottom of the monitor, there's this dark-blue on-light indicator that sticks out but can't seem to be removed. I had to carve a notch out of my cabinet, in order for that part to fit in.
👍
What is your frames per second? Thanks
Most tables can run as high as 400 fps, but since my monitor is 60 hz, I've set up my video card to go no higher than 60. A big monitor with 120 hz would be cost prohibitive.
When I made this video, the video card wasn't capped at all. Now, capped at 60, my flipper lag has dropped.
The one thing I apply for every build that I have made, is never start putting a price before the actual build. Gather your parts that you think you'll need and go from there. Add thing here and there as you progress.
I have built a Video Poker machine, a MAME cabinet in the shape of a TARDIS, an actual copy of a slot machine ( ruclips.net/video/VuRvXCBqJbE/видео.html ) made of wood, and of course, a pinball cab.
So for anyone thinking of building one, you can get a very basic system to one that has more than just bells and whistles. I think the build depends mostly on your skills.
For folks that have limited budgets, they need to be realistic to start. If they can afford a basic one now, know what needs to be in there: desktop computer with decent graphics card, two screens, cabinet with buttons/wires/KL25Z. Later on, add the bells and whistles. Or just the computer and one screen while collecting your tables. Your skills can develop as you go along; they did for me!
So, most pinball companies don't complain about the virtual pins using the copyrighted artwork?
Stern's aware but they haven't come down on the community, mostly because tables that are currently in production don't get the VP treatment. Stern also asked for one specific table to not get shared, and the community obliged. The legality of it all is... well, from where I see it, as long as the VP community isn't cutting into the pinball manufacturer's profits, it's accepted. But I don't think the delicate balance will last forever, sorry to say.
I'm subscribing you now
Now I have Pink Floyd stuck in my head.
Have a cigar.
Hah, I live in Chicagoland as well. My Microcenter is the Westmont location
Ogden, baby!
Pinball fx FTW! For me.
Never gotten into FX, but you are not alone in loving those types of tables. Those really feel like video games to me.
Pinball FX IS a Video Game, it's not Pinball, because most of their Tables are Original and can't be compared to real Tables. The Cabinet Mode in FX is something not worth talking about...
You should try Pinup Popper it's next level
I'll stick with PinballY, but I've been told I can use PinUp Player and PuP-packs with it. First, I have to install Freezy, and I fear doing so will force me to realign every table's DMD. Not looking forward to all the extra work.
@@licoricewhip You can set a specific location for you dmd in dmddevice.ini or in the new Freezy 1.8 it lets you select location of dmd per table and save it...can also use color dmds if your a fan
@@Pinballis4me Okay, maybe I can pull this off. I'm at the point where I've installed nearly every non-PuP table I'd ever want, so this is the logical next step. Thanks for the info!
@@licoricewhip Also if you do change to Pinup Popper the latest release 1.4.5 @ this time...Nailbuster recently made it easy it contains all updates in the install...before you had to start with prev version and slowly update to current...his pinup wiki link is in all my video descriptions
ima drop my 43" 4K 120hz in there and just run cables to my PC.
Be careful with static images on a plasma.
It's a pretty old TV. Well-loved in its day. I think I'd have to leave the machine on for days before getting any burn-in. But I do like that real pinball DMDs are made of... Plasma!
I’m pretty sure that Microsoft would be surprised to know that there is a free version of Windows … looks more like you’ve got an unregistered version of Windows installed that you’ve decided not to pay for.
Regarding your comment at about 23 minutes in about a possible 3D aspect... there is a thing call BAM head tracking using a microsoft kinect... here's an example, looks really cool.
ruclips.net/video/g-EpTp_3wKo/видео.html
I've seen that, and it is cool! A popular RUclips video (Shaun's the guy's name) shows it off too. I'd have to buy a Kinect and other things, and my cabinet would need re-designing. The desire for 3D is the reason the community is liking VR and those headsets. For me, it's not that big of a deal. If I line it up just right, it's just fine for me. DOF (so you feel the cabinet shake at the right times) also meant little to me. I wanted a plunger and good nudging ability over the other aspects. At this point, if I wanted everything else, I'd probably have to scrap this cabinet and start again... and, well, nah.
@@licoricewhip I've had Pinball FX in VR for a while... and it is very cool, but it's still not the same as having an actual physical pinball machine. I'm planning on building a virtual pinball cabinet in the next month or so and I'll probably give the BAM support a try. As far as redesigning your cabinet, I believe all you would need to do is sit the Kinect on top your backglass, aim it down and configure it in software...
@@obsidian1710 But how many tables would be playable with the Kinect? I only play VPX and VP9 tables, and I can't imagine all VPX tables would work... but if they can, my computer can probably handle the extra demands.
si ma la polvere toglila dall compiuter che fa schifo ahahaha
No dust problems yet!