I'm a pinball fan from way back, but pinball machines are so expensive, and need a lot of maintenance. With the creation of software such as Visual Pinball, Future Pinball and Hyperpin, Digital pinball cabinets are a reality, and can be made quite cheaply. the advantage of digital pinball is that it's cheap to maintain, relatively cheap to build and you can have as many tables as have been created. A number of people have built cabinets, and the Hyperpin Forums are a great place to get all the information. Here's a step by step on how to configure the software, build the cabinet and wire it all together.
you will need:
- A computer. 1 Gig of Ram is OK, but 2 is ideal. you'll need a pretty decent graphics card with dual monitor capabilities and a pretty decent processor - a fast dual core is better than a not as fast quad core, as the software only uses 2 cores anyway. Most people say Windows XP is best.
- the software: Visual Pinball is the emulation software, and the front end that dresses it up and makes it playable on the cabinet is hyperpin.
- A monitor for your playfield - I wanted to keep costs down, so I went with a smaller option - a 24" Asus monitor. If you want to replicate the size of a real pinball machine, a 37" LCD TV is your best bet.
- A monitor for the backglass - I went with a 19".
- timber - I used 19mm MDF.
- A keyboard encoder. the i-pac is your best bet, available here in Australia, and here in the USA.
- arcade buttons and wire. I used 6 buttons, each coming with it's own microswitch. wiring kits save a lot of hassle crimping connectors on wires. they're available at the above links.
these are the key components, but there are plenty of smaller things I use along the way.
you will need:
- A computer. 1 Gig of Ram is OK, but 2 is ideal. you'll need a pretty decent graphics card with dual monitor capabilities and a pretty decent processor - a fast dual core is better than a not as fast quad core, as the software only uses 2 cores anyway. Most people say Windows XP is best.
- the software: Visual Pinball is the emulation software, and the front end that dresses it up and makes it playable on the cabinet is hyperpin.
- A monitor for your playfield - I wanted to keep costs down, so I went with a smaller option - a 24" Asus monitor. If you want to replicate the size of a real pinball machine, a 37" LCD TV is your best bet.
- A monitor for the backglass - I went with a 19".
- timber - I used 19mm MDF.
- A keyboard encoder. the i-pac is your best bet, available here in Australia, and here in the USA.
- arcade buttons and wire. I used 6 buttons, each coming with it's own microswitch. wiring kits save a lot of hassle crimping connectors on wires. they're available at the above links.
these are the key components, but there are plenty of smaller things I use along the way.
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Signing UpStep 1: Setting up the monitors.
the first thing you need to do is configure the monitors. this is pretty easy. On Windows XP, go to control panel/Appearance and Themes/Change the screen resolution. Click "identify" to make sure your playfieild monitor is 1 and Backglass monitor is 2. then click on monitor 2 and check "extend my windows desktop...". then set the resolution for both screens to the true resolution of monitor 1 (1280x1024 is a safe bet). make sure monitor 2 is on the left of monitor one.
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Left and right flippers
start/enter
escape
plunger
credit
instructions
- a computer or computer components: motherboard, min. 1 gig Ram (preferably 2), NVIDIA graphics card with at least 512mb ram, minimum 40gig Hard drive, reasonably speedy dual core processor, at least 400m power supply.
- a widescreen monitor for the playfield - mine is 24"
- a standard screen for the backglass - mine is 19"
- an ipac2 keyboard encoder
- arcade buttons and microswitches - I use 6 - left flipper, right flipper, start, escape, plunger, credit and instructions
- wire - you can by it in packs with switch connecters already attached.
- computer speakers
- 120mm computer fans - I used 3.
- timber - I use 19mm mdf
- brackets to attach you backglass monitor
-pcb mounts to mount your keyboard encoder
- screws
- power drill
- 25 and 28mm spade bits
- circular saw
- sander
-paint
and you can download media packs straight from visual pinball here (but they count as part of your daily download limit, so get as many from the hyperpin threads first): http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?automodule=downloads&cmd=viewcat&cat_id=35
computer: I used a 3 year old computer I had just replaced so it didn't really cost my anything. I think a keen ebayer could pick up all the components for under $450.
playfield monitor: $215
backglass monitor: $49 (second hand)
keyboard encoder: $55 (they're cheaper in the US)
buttons and wire: $45
mercury switches: $16
timber: $35
fans: $12
everything else (paint, hardware, surge protector, etc): $40
total (without computer): $457
i mean, thats a pretty wide screen for a widescreen monitor...
But nonetheless i too love pinball, and im probably going to try something like this on a smaller scale.
this is the tilt system inside our road show machine we have at home. the connections should be the same as the mercury switch.
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/pinball-machine-pendulum.gif
not the best quality, but gives you the general idea.