pinball

The slippery slope: I started with a plan to not include any “real” mechanical parts in my virtual pinball build and instead rely on six tactile speakers to produce the realistic sound and feel of a real pinball machine. Then I found Cleveland Software, a company that created an easy-to-wire board setup with good solenoids. I got the six-piece kit and loved it. Once you have the basic hardware controller (controlled by DOF, Direct Output Framework), adding more is easy – too easy. Next, I added a shaker motor (a must-have in my book) and bought an old set of Pinbot flipper assemblies from on eBay. I rewired the flippers and they worked well for the “sound” at only 24v.

The real cabinet build involved tedious work, and I played it for several months with no backbox – just monitors stacked on the end of the cabinet. Now, near the end of 2023, I have a real backbox, flasher lights, siren, mechanical parts, and a working plunger. Unfortunately, I still have a long way to go. My next steps include figuring out how to fill the gap between the LG OLED TV and sidewalls, redoing the speaker/monitor cover, taking everything inside OUT and rewiring it properly (it’s currently a rat’s nest). I also need to design/buy decals for the side/front and backbox. I’ve made the cuts for t-molding but haven’t picked the color yet.

I’ve been through so much learning and down many rabbit holes in almost 2 years. I predict it will be another year before it’s finished <cough>.

Virtual pinball refers to playing pinball games using software without a physical ball rolling around inside a pinball cabinet. 

• Virtual pinball could be a game on your phone
• Virtual pinball might be playing Pinball FX2 on your Quest VR headset
• Virtual pinball could be a gaming PC running pinball simulation software inside a real pinball cabinet with real flippers, slings, and pop bumpers!

Years ago, I started playing on my PC but gave it up as it wasn’t much like playing real pinball. After watching some YouTube videos on software called “Virtual Pinball” (VPX), I decided to grab a cheap gaming PC and try it. I found a $200 Acer Nitro with a 1650 card that was “good enough” for playing 4K at 60fps. It was great, so I immediately grabbed an old keyboard encoder from the “junk drawer” and cobbled together this setup.

I was hooked. Eight days later, I had a 4K TV laying flat on a table with a slightly nicer wood box with flipper buttons on it. 

A week later I was adding Surround Sound Feedback (SSF) which are small speakers placed under the TV at the points where you’d expect the sound. So flipper sounds come from the front, the ball rolling sounds follow placement on the screen, etc. But to really try this I wanted the small percussive speakers that you could feel – which required another prototype – a box. So two weeks later I built this and rigged a monitor on top and have the speakers mounted on inside with 2.1 amps.

Unfortunately, this is pretty fun to play as is, so hopefully I don’t get stuck at the prototype stage! I’d like to experiment with a real DMD or use an old monitor screen from the “junk cabinet”.  It’s ugly but pretty fun and has come a long way in less than 4 weeks! My ultimate goal is to have a normal wide-body pinball cabinet to put all this in. Hopefully goes faster than the Pac-Man machine …