Advice on a Virtual Pinball Build

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  mskeggs on 19/02/2018 - 08:43

  So the cost of the cabinet is around $1500?
  Assuming you have the time, I would say it would take a few weekends to build it yourself. Up to you whether the satisfaction from doing it yourself beats paying for it, and your own attention to detail/quality.
  I don't know anything about the software, but if it supports higher resolutions, the cheap and cheerful TV they use for the display will look shabby.

  But the real question, is how do you nudge the ball when it is teetering on the point of the chute?

  • 

    abb on 19/02/2018 - 11:15

    The U-HID-G has a three-axis accelerometer for sensing gravity and motion acceleration, plus it has a complete U-HID-NANO expansion port, configurable for buttons, keystrokes, further analog or quadrature.
    It can serve as a gaming interface for flight controls, steering wheels, joysticks, pinball nudge, or whatever else you can think of that can be accomplished by sensing the acceleration that is reported by the U-HID-G to your computer.

    http://u-hid.com/home/uhidg.php

• 

  Godric on 19/02/2018 - 08:49

  Will it tilt?

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  AnotherRat on 19/02/2018 - 09:07

  +3

  These things are shit. If you want a good cab, make it yourself however be prepared to spend more money.

  To get the best of virtual pinball, you'll want to use Visual Pinball X (also known as Visual Pinball 10 or VPX) but the PC provided will not be able to run this.

  Notice also that this does not have a backlgass that is interactive at all with the table selected. "Can do any Backglass image print you want!!! custom built to your needs!!" means that this is just a picture. Decent pincabs use a screen as the backglass which changes with the chosen table and has flashing lights etc. simulating what real pinball tables do.

  There are some decent Facebook groups for this stuff (Visual Pinball Addicts, Visual Pinball Junkies) and some good webpages vpinball.com, vpuniverse.com, www.monsterbashpincab.com

  And to @mskeggs and @Godric regarding the nudge/tilt questions. I can't say how nudge is handled on the table OP posted, probably just with buttons, but most cabinets people make these days have nudge and tilt using in most cases accelerometers that are built into the controller boards.

  • 

    Adz81 on 19/02/2018 - 13:55

    Excellent, thanks AR… I noticed you'd posted questions about VP's before and had previously tried sending you a PM to see how you got along with your quest for them. I thought the system may have been a little under powered, and the static backglass wasn't ideal, but at that price I was prepared to tinker a little, possibly… You've convinced me otherwise.

    Also, did you end up doing a build?

    • 

      AnotherRat on 19/02/2018 - 14:19

      I did do a build yes, https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171002/53a78a8457de6a112b…

      I never got any PM's from you, I've never received any messages in Oz Bargain.

      I've been told a little history about those cabs and I wouldn't touch them.

      FWIW I spent about $2500 on my cabinet and couldn't do it much cheaper. The PC I use runs VPX but with low settings, these days people are spending a fortune on their PC build to keep up and the price of video cards are a killer at the moment with the whole crypto currency mining scene forcing the prices up. Some people spend 3 times what I did, it really depends on what you want to include and in some cases who owes you favours.

      • 

        Adz81 on 19/02/2018 - 18:04

        Holy shit!
        That's a sexy piece of kit! Nicely done! If you've blogged the process anywhere, I'd love to read it.

        I attempted to send a PM, but it told me you didn't accept messages from strangers… Or at least from me :)

      • 

        Adz81 on 19/02/2018 - 18:06

        How do you find the experience compares to an actual table? Close enough? I'd mainly be looking at the likes of Addams Family, Indiana Jones, and I'm sure I'll find many more once I get into it… But it'll be worth it just for Addams Family I hope.

      • 

        AnotherRat on 20/02/2018 - 12:15

        @Adz81: Thanks… I planned on doing a build thread on Aussie Arcade but never got around to it.

        I have now changed my OzBargain inbox settings

      • 

        AnotherRat on 20/02/2018 - 12:20

        @Adz81: It's pretty good. Some people will tell you it is better than the real thing, that is utter bullshit, how can an emulator/simulator be better? Depending on who creates the table you'll get a different experience. Some of the tables have been recreated brilliantly.

        I am mates with a guy that was the No. 1 pinballer in Australia for a long while, he only lost the ranking when he stopped competing and he reckons VPins are awesome. He is looking at selling off a large number of pinball machines that he has but will keep his virtual one and has some plans of building a second virtual one.

        For me, I worry about the maintenance of a real table but fixing a computer, no worries. There is a fair bit on ongoing work adding tables and keeping it all working but overall the experience is a positive one.

      • 

        Adz81 on 21/02/2018 - 19:17

        @AnotherRat: Better than the original? Agreed, bullshit.
        BUT if it's a reasonable comparison (and I've played a couple of reasonable ones), it's well worth it for the maintenance aspect you pointed out alone (not to mention a $$ perspective cough $8-bloody-k for Addams Family cough

        Thanks for the feedback, its good to get a no BS answer from someone who's experienced it directly.

        If you have time (and the inclination), do you mind if I ask what you're using to run your VP?

      • 

        AnotherRat on 22/02/2018 - 14:07

        @Adz81: PC wise, it a HP SFF 8300 which has an i5 processor of some sort, I don't remember the specifics (I bought it 2nd hand and very cheap). 8GB RAM and a GTX750Ti (Low Profile) video card. The video card is capable of playing the tables but with some settings turned down so a better GPU would be recommended although with the settings I have it running at I am more than happy, keeping in mind that I run mine at 1080p and not 4K.

        I have two TV screens (both are TCL brand and I'm really happy with them), a 40" as the playfield and a 28" as the backglass with a Pin2DMD for the DMD display.

        Speaker wise I have Logitech Z623 setup for the music etc. and an amp and some exciter speakers (tactile feedback speakers) mounted in the cab which produces sounds from under the playfield and also give a bit of feedback so you can feel the ball hitting the pop bumpers etc.

        If you were in my area I'd offer for you to have a bash at mine.

        Real pinball's are very expensive and prices recently have been even worse as it seems the hobby is becoming more popular. I would love to have some, but they are too expensive… I still dream of one day buying one. In a lot of cases 2nd hand tables are more expensive than brand new ones. Homepin are releasing a brand new Thunderbirds piball for $7k with 2 years warranty https://www.highway.net.au/arcade-machines/pinball-machines/…

      • 

        Adz81 on 22/02/2018 - 15:21

        @AnotherRat: That's brilliant, thanks so much for the info.

        Yep… I'd like a real one, but they're getting to be a bit of a pisstake with the prices they're asking for them (although Addam's Family has been expensive for years now)… As much as I'd like a real one, the VP is the more logical choice.

        Thanks for the feedback on the TCLs as well, much appreciated, I'm not too fussed about 4k, I'd reckon the 1080 would be fine.

      • 

        zimbakin on 03/01/2019 - 16:10

        Your virtual pinball Build looks cool!

        Would you mind sharing where you got the plans?
        Also, where in Aus did you get the metal side rails, glass, front metal lock bar and legs?

        Cheers,
        Zim

• 

  AnotherRat on 19/02/2018 - 09:20

  Integrated video won't hold up on the tables you'll want.

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  Diji1 on 19/02/2018 - 13:05

  I could be wrong but the GPU on that pre built doesn't look powerful enough to run Pinball Arcade or Pinball FX at 60FPS at a decent res and settings …

• 

  Scrobo on 21/02/2018 - 13:58

  There is a steal on Gumtree at the moment, I'd grab it.

  For a serious Virtual Pinball machine, you want to run VPX, check out some of the tables here: http://www.monsterbashpincab.com/

  But you will want a serious graphics card, really a 1060 or better.

  • 

    AnotherRat on 22/02/2018 - 14:27

    Do you have a link for the Gumtree one?

    Sounds like you have one or at least have tinkered a little.