NEW SECTION MAYBE??? - Pinball 'builders' / Homebrew / retheme

[Pick Holder]

I am about to start a re-theme.

I have an awful lot to learn.

Having had nearly 25 years experience on repairing pinballs even doing a retheme is a massive task.

Personally for me - hardware I have no issue with, software I am a complete beginner. Last time I programmed was on a ZX Spectrum and BBC micro in the 80s. I am assured that 'a lot has changed since then'.....

There are plenty of people on here I know would give excellent advice.

After seeing what others have done I really want to do this.

Perhaps once the retheme has been completed I will want to start from scratch but I know @Sven Normansson has still not completed Forbidden Planet yet.

I know @Goodwinsplace is about to start a complete new build. Yes - I admit I think he is running before he can walk but in a lot of respects so am I. @AlanJ also started a custom build.

So is there room on the group for a new SECTION on this forum (like the Virtual pinball one) @Paul ?

Having looked and posted before on the P:ROC pages I get the feeling nobody really wanted to give advice. Having looked at the facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1148598398602739 - which does have amazing projects on it, there doesnt seem to be anyway on facebook having information laid out easily that can be archived properly and searched.

Not being a you-tuber I would post my build on such a thread, and share mistakes in order to help others in the future. I wish I could do something on that platform but you dont wanna see my mug on your screens.....

So does this kind of thing interest others on here?

 

[AlanJ]

Yes interests me. My homebrew is working but needs final refinements. i’ve not done anything with it for months.

I’ve got far too many things on at the go at the moment (e.g. just finished building 40 more lots of bally led score displays. i’ve made 100’s of these over last two years and it’s lost it’s interest to me, so i’m going to do a final batch of 50 more then that’s it - just so i can move onto other stuff).

 

[Goodwinsplace]

A homebrew section would be great, as you say it would be a good archive for others to learn from and research their own builds.
I also love seeing other people progress with their projects.

From what I've seen on Mission Pinball Framework it is built in a way that you can do basic items fairly quickly just from the config files. I have a background in a wide range of coding so this kind of thing doesn't phase me, I'm still no expert coder though.
Also the documentation is so detailed most things are covered and they have videos taking you from a clean machine through to installing the framework and getting items moving quite quickly.
This is all based on my research as I've not even attempted to install it at this stage.
I have a few weeks away with work soon, so I'll be using them for the software and graphic side of my build. Using time off when I'm back to focus on the hardware.

I'm going the OPP route and there isn't much info out there on that hardware, most focuses on the off the shelf hardware such as FAST, Cobra and P-Roc.

There is a google group which I found via Pinball Makers that is quite active and has some willing people to support also.

I get your point on the running before I walk, but even if I were to do a retheme it would still be the same hardware and software I'd be building, but the playfield and other items already being prepared, I'd be happy with that if I had a decent game with a playfield I enjoyed, but as I'm working from whitewood I'd rather determine my own layout. I'm just about to join a local hackspace that has a CNC, Laser Cutter and a few other items that I can run a lot of this project from eventually, I still think I'm a few weeks/months off even cutting a playfield.

 

[Jib]

Not something I'd ever attempt myself but just like the shop logs, it's something I'd be interested to follow along.

 

[HomerRamone]

Sounds good to me.
Im in the opposite position. Really like the idea of programming a rethemed pin, but building the thing - deffo not my forte.

 

[Big Phil]

A new section sounds good.

But for those with various skill sets, why not work together and build one each? Obvs depending on it being a common theme that interests all parties involved.

So say you wanted to build First Blood. Pick a machine to retheme which you can get multiples of. You need an artist, someone good with their hands. modelling, programming etc......

I'm no good at any of those things but I'll throw a bit of funding in so I could get me own

Modes - Escape police station, bike chase, forest hunt, cave escape, shoot up the town among a few smaller modes.

 

[Mooseman]

That sounds a similar plan to the Johnny Menomic to matrix pins

 

[Fantazia2]

Its something Ive wanted to do for a while to build a custom film themed pin, but would likely want to start with something a bit simpler like and old EM so there is less to have to get working.

The classics guys might want to cover their ears/eyes at this point, but I would rip out the mechanical scoring part of it and replace with an arudino for the main program/Solenoid/Switch controls and then offload things like the lighting to a Pi Pico or two using addressable RGB LEDs for all the lights so the playfield GI/shots colours could change depending what game mode was playing, and then make a new back box with an LCD and Pi Zero in it to playback video clips in time with the game play modes, and have a 7 Segment LED display for the scores, credits etc.

Ive already got several ideas in mind to match items on the playfield like kickouts and variotargets etc to parts of the film I want to do.

 

[AlanJ]

I’ve done everything with a glorified arduino (esp32s) - it reads the switch matrix, fires the coils, lights the rgb lights, controls a sound card and displays scores on a led dot matrix display. It also runs the actual game code, rules and scoring. game over attract mode, hstd etc.

Would need a rasp pi if i wanted to add lcd with video - and that should be easy enough to control from the esp32s as well.