Project: Custom Virtual Pinball Machine

February 28, 2025

Pinball as a Kid of the 80's

Being a kid who grew up in the 80’s/90’s in rural Australia I was fascinated with arcade machines and especially pinball machines. For kids that grew up beyond the 2000’s in the age of ready available video games at home, they sadly missed one of the most interesting times of a free kids life, getting out and about to play some games with friends and experience the kind of games you just never would get at home.

The small town where I grew up had a local Pub and a roadhouse that would have a few games that would cycle through every few months and Pinball was always something interesting, a game that had physical things that moved, mechanics, ramps and secret features to discover. Any time the publican opened up the machine was always exciting to check out the mass of wiring and electronics within especially for a kid already fascinated with electronics. One problem with Pinball as a kid tho, not being terribly good and having to spend 40c per go it was often much shorter lived in playtime than an arcade game or a round of 8 ball so was a rare chance I would actually play, more watch others play.

I had a small toy pinball machine for one christmas as a kid because of my fascination, I also built a mechanical pinball machine from wood and rubber bands as a high school tech project and always dreamed of one day building my own machine with the idea of having within a coffee table. Still plan on that one day but as I grew up with computers, played countless hours of pinball video games eventually the scene of “Virtual Pinball” appeared and it was around 2008 where I started to follow the virtual pinball scene…

The Virtual Pinball Scene

Virtual Pinball (or more just electronic video pinball) started to appear at the end of the 70s with success home consoles such as Pong, Pinball was a huge industry in the 70s and 80s and the Atari Video Pinball system offered that pinball experience right at home. A dedicated machine just like Pong but offering pinball. This was just before the introduction of the Atari 2600 so consoles were just 1 game devices with a few variations of the game to play. Slightly before my time but following from this, each gaming system thereafter offered a pinball game of some kind, with Windows 95 even including the well known “Space Cadet” as an included game. Seemed everywhere you turned, Pinball was being played and there were some truly great pinball games to play but they all lacked that feeling of a real machine

While pinball video games were fun they lacked much of what made an actual pinball machine so interesting. Pinball machines firstly are a long playfield that does not adapt well to a typical monitor display often requiring the playfield to be a small box in the middle, being modified to fit the 4:3 aspect ratio of the time or use camera panning techniques to follow the ball. The other obvious missing link was the fact it was not a physical machine, you could not feel the mechanics, you couldn’t bump the machine to manipulate the ball (well, some games had bump keys but that isn’t the same thing) and of course not standing to play made it feel like just a simple video game rather than an arcade experience.

It was around 2010 that I started to discover the scene around virtual pinball with the introduction of dedicated software to emulate Pinball machines such as Future Pinball. This was released as free software for others to develop and create virtual pinball tables that others could download and play but it was specifically designed to display the pinball playfield horizontally on wide screen monitors so you could turn the monitor sideways and have a full length playfield. Build this into a box, add some arcade buttons and a simple input controller and this now made the pinball video game feel much closer to the actual thing.

It really looked interesting and while the software, physics and graphics were certainly making it look and feel much more like real pinball, there was still the cost of hardware at that time and there was still a lack of realism to it, more still just a video game.

This would all start to change as real hardcore pinball enthusiasts would start working together to address some of the main things lacking in vpin and slowly the features would expand, the capabilities of what a “vpin machine” could do would grow and the cost and complexity of actually building one of these machines would reduce and by about 2020 it was possible for anyone to knock together a machine for about the same cost as a half decent PC.

It was around this time I started to do research and think more seriously about my own project and this is where I began…

Getting Started

I should preface this by first stating that I am quite a technical person, know computers and mechanics well and would consider myself a “maker”. This is not to say I am an expert in cabinetry, electronics, computers or any of the required skills needed to build a project like this, however I have enough interest and skills in different areas to feel confident enough to get started and that is all one needs. I have learned that this is a project anyone can really do with minimal tools as long as they are prepared to learn along the way.

I will say that you need to plan out your budget, especially if you live in Australia where some parts are hard to come by locally and a full sized pinball machine is big, you need space to build but honestly, if you have some basic skills, some space and a keen interest to make a machine for yourself, it is 100% possible and many people are getting started in this hobby.

Researching & Planning

So I started my actual build design in 2023 however I started actual research and learning what was involved around 2018 andthe first suggestion I would make is to create yourself a document such as a simple Google Doc and start recording all your notes and research into it.

I listed down a heap of questions I wanted answers to and then started filling in the details:

What is my overall budget
What software is needed to play tables
Where do you get tables and how do they get installed/setup
What cost is there to the software
How do you browse/load tables
What computer specs are needed
What screen size is recommended
How do you display the score (is it a screen or an LED display)
How does the “backglass” display work for artwork display
What kind of controller is needed for all the buttons
Can you use a “real plunger” to launch the ball
Is there any options for “feedback” such as the feeling of flippers/bumpers
Can I control lights, flashers, spinners
Are there any other options to control things
What kind of controller is needed to control all these things and how does it setup and work
Do tables have signals to control all these things and how does that all work
Do I build a cabinet from scratch or try find an old one to repurpose
Where do I get actual pinball legs and hardware
What dimensions are a real pinball machine
Do I need to find plans or design it myself
How would I do artwork for the machine
Where do I get glass for the top and how do I fit it
What do I do for the lockdown bar
Do I need to have hinges for the backbox
What kind of wood should I build the cabinet from
What kind of paint to use if choosing to stick vinyl artwork to it
Do I have all the tools needed, what will I need
Do I have the time, patience and space needed to build a machine

This was pretty much all the questions I started to note down as I watched videos, read articles and to my delight I discovered there was a huge amount of info out there to help me get going.

References & Helpful Info

During my research I came across a video series from a YouTube channel called Way of the Wrench where he explored exactly what I was looking to do with each video in the series covering each aspect of the whole project. This was a great starting point as it answwered many of the questions on how everything went together, how the controllers worked and what different kinds of software were available and how to set these things up.

Additionally, there is a written guide that many refer to as the Virtual pinball Bible which has a wealth of info available to help you get started and of course I would also recommend joining some facebook groups such as Virtual Pinball and VPin Cab Builders where you can speak with many like minded people that can offer answers and assistance.

At this stage I was pretty confident I would be able to figure out how to build a VPin and I started work on researching everything I would need, broken down into the following points:

Computer Hardware
Monitors
Controllers
Feedback Devices
Audio System / Speakers
Power / Wiring
Cabinet / Hardware
Paint / Artwork
Tools

With each of these main points set I then started to research each of these points to fill in all the details, get an idea of what was needed and where I could get everything.

I decided that building the cabinet from scratch would be the best option since finding an existing cabinet to reuse was not easy and would also mean it would set the specific limitations on what monitor would fit into it (and also the challenges or making a monitor fit perfectly). This ment I would need to design the cabinet, select the wood to use, pick up the materials etc but before that I would first have to decide on what monitors I would use as the cabinet dimensions would have to be based off the physical size of the monitors for the best fit and appearance and I would also have to start with setup of the software so I could learn how the screens would all work and if it would even go as planned.

Computer Hardware / Monitors

This was step 1 since I knew that if I selected the monitors to use first I could design the cabinet around the dimensions of the monitors but also if I first built the PC and connected the monitors to test things out I could get a feel for how it would work and if I wanted to continue.

I have built likely hundreds of systems in my time and also not only have several spare machines but also a heap of spare parts and was initially thinking I could simply repurpose what I had available but after research I discovered VPin, unlike building a Mame arcade machine actually requires a pretty decent video card to offer fluid and jitter free play so I set on building a new machine initially based around a RTX3060 GPU, however I discovered this would struggle to offer smooth performance with a 4K, 144Hz display so I upgraded this to an RTX4070Ti which is a bit overkill but futureproof

Computer Hardware selection was as follows:

MSI B550-A PRO AM4 ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6 Core AM4 4.2Ghz
Corsair 32GB Vengeance 3200MHz DDR4 RAM
Silicon Power 2TB NVMe Gen
Cooler Master 750W V2 Power Supply
Cooler Master ML360L ARGB V2 CPU Cooler
Cooler Master Gen 2 ARGB LED Controller
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti WindForce OC 12G GPU
Windows 11 Pro
PC Open Frame Case

For the monitors I selected a

Playfield: 43” AOC 4K 144Hz Monitor
Backglass: 32″ Acer 1080P 60Hz Monitor
DMD Display: 21” Second Hand HP Elite Display
Topper Display: 8” 1920×480 60Hz Monitor (ebay)

The Playfield monitor was selected specifically because it is a genuine computer monitor (not a TV) wat 4K/144Hz so offers a great response with the ball and lighting animations, very smooth and clear, however sadly it is not oled but still looks great.

The backglass is the largest size that can be fitted to the back box while still allowing for the machine to fit through a standard doorway, a detail that is important to pay attention too.

The DMD is just something that will fit in the available space, I selected a second hand monitor and decided on this older one as it is a metal chassis which allowed it to be de-cased and save a little room

I also opted for a small “topper” monitor that can display info and animations for the selected table, not something needed but kind of cool to add. The RTX4070Ti has the capability to drive all 4 monitors.

I purchased the computer hardware and playfield/backglass monitors from my local PC store and was able to build and setup the system in an afternoon ready to install some tables and begin testing.

Test Setup

I started off building the PC into a very cheap case to get started and got some spare monitors I had lying around to get started. Initial test setup wasn’t pretty, but it worked for the purpose.

First step was installing the initial software using the “Baller Installer” software which installs all the basic components to get started.

This includes “PinUp Popper” which is the “front end” navigation software used to manage and browse through the virtual tables, then also 2 main pinball emulation programs Visual Pinball 10 (referred to as VPX) and Future Pinball. There are other pinball software platforms that can also work but these are the main ones and both are completely free.

It should be noted that there can be some learning curve when setting up all these applications and multi monitors, however the “baller installer” program (which you can get freely from several sources via google) steps you through the options and helps you setup everything.

From here it was time to test out the included tables and have some initial fun

Input / Output Controller & Cabinet Hardware

With the proof of concept completed and the vision of what could be possible now set, the next step was to figure out what kind of hardware was needed to allow for the required button inputs and optionally, outputs for physical devices such as flashing lights, strobes and solenoids that emulate the physical and audible clicks and clunks of the bumpers, flippers and poppers.

I initially looked into doing everything from scratch using a programmable I/O controller but as I researched I discovered a much more efficient solution (tho much more costly) that included everything I would need for the electronics.

A company in Cleveland offers full kits that include controller, buttons, analog plunger, solenoids, Surround Sound Feedback transducers (with amps), flashers, shaker motor, power supply and all the cables and daughter boards with custom software for basically a plug-n-play setup which saves a ton of time and complexity.

I purchased a full pinball builders kit from Cleveland Software Design which living in Australia did cost quite a price especially with out import tax but it must be said, the support from Phil the developer is second to none. The kit had everything needed to fill out the inside of the machine with every input and output required and was pretty simple to setup.

These parts took a few weeks to arrive and some small parts were damaged in shipping but Phil was happy to post out replacements and spares so again, he is an absolute legend to deal with.

With the controller decided on I knew I was committed so started on planning out the rest of the hardware needed for the machine which would be legs, hinges for the backbox, coin door and lockdown bar. I would have to make a few compromises due to the limited sources for this stuff in Australia and costs but I also had to decide on the design of the cabinet, where to get playfield glass and what to do about the artwork.

I did a lot of research to find where best to order some parts and for the pinball legs I was able to find new legs with all the mounting hardware, brackets, bolts and feet from Pinball Spare Parts Australia. These are genuine heavy duty Williams pinball legs, I chose black for my colour and they have a good range of replacement legs and accessories.

Slightly more difficult to locate was the hinges for the backbox which are needed to be able to fold the whole backbox down for transport and moving. This is not exactly required if you either don’t ever plan to move your machine or simply unbolt and remove the whole backbox however I wanted it to be kind of authentic in that regard and also, easy to transport. I was able to find some second hand hinges for a Sega pinball machine which were perfect, these did not include any bolts or flush nuts for the cabinet so I would have to make my own. I ordered these from Mr Pinball Australia who specialise in pinball and arcade systems and replacement parts, however there is never a guarantee what you need is in stock or available.

The coin door was something I just was not able to source locally without paying an ungodly amount to import from overseas and the lockdown bar (which is the chrome bar you place your hands on at the front of the machine) was also difficult to find for a good price and would also mean I would have to build the cabinet specifically to fit the lockdown bar which I figured may complicate the decision to purchase the monitor first since both have to be factored into the width of the machine. For both of these I decided to make my own solutions.

With most of the main hardware components sorted I setup the controller and electronics for initial testing.

The controller is both Input and Output controlled and for the outputs to work you need to setup what is called the Direct Output Framework or DOF which is an online configuration tool where you set what devices you have (toys as they are referred to), and the outputs these are connected to on your controller and this generates a master matrix configuration file that maps every available vpin table to your configuration and things then simply “work”. This is actually very ingenious in how it works and the community works hard to make sure all features for each table translate to the hardware outputs so you feel the vibrations, see the synchronised flashes and feel like you are playing pinball. The first time you see this happen is quite the experience.

Designing The Cabinet

Designing the cabinet was a daunting experience initially as I had no idea how I would make things fit, how big it should be, how the monitor would fit correctly but after watching some YouTube videos on the process, researching actual dimensions of official cabinets and having all the monitors and hardware to take measurements of it was much easier than I initially thought.

I used an old program I love Sketchup 2017 which I personally love using more than the modern web based version just because it is snappy and simple to use for things like this.

I started first by measuring my monitors and creating mockups of these in the program then building the basic box using measurements I found online

This gave me some key measurements such as the slope of the playfield, the slope of the actual cabinet, the dimensions that are typically used and all I had to do was base my design off these measurements but adjust to suit the monitors I had selected. There is a lot of useful info also available on the Pinball bible

The design took a week to complete as I measured then CAD designed every part so I could figure out every dimension and how things would all fit together, this was a key decision as it allowed the build to happen very quickly and without any issues.

It was also very easy to decide where supports needed to be and ensure that nothing would accidentally impede anything else, a key thing when it came to button placements clearing the monitor and also the position of the plunger.

One thing I also decided to do was incorporate some side windows since during the design I figured there was a lot of cool stuff inside and I personally love checking out the inside of pinball machines so I figured why not make it viewable, which also offered some additional design opportunities such as custom lighting inside the cabinet.

Mocking up all the hardware controllers and PC hardware also allowed me to figure out placement within the cabinet before making any mistakes.

During the design phase I figured out what I would do for the lockdown bar and the coin door. The lockdown bar I decided to make just from wood and make it slightly larger with the idea I could swap it out with another one that has arcade controls for additional games, and the coin door I would simply make a hinged door cutout with an aluminum edge trim.

The design gave me the confidence that I could make this using my existing hand tools, needing not much more than a circular saw, slide guide for the saw, jigsaw, router, hand drill and a few forstner drill bits.

Next decision was the artwork as I would need to know what to do here before I started the build…

Designing The Artwork

For the artwork I initially considered just painting the cab black and sticking on some vinyl sticker art with the help of my kids, however after looking at dozens of other builders projects I decided some cool artwork would really make it shine.

I started by looking at some pre-created artwork that you can buy from artists but due to the windows I wanted to put into the sides I decided on a custom designed theme which meant I needed to dust off my amature photoshop skills.

Since most of the traditional pinball artwork was designed to fill the large empty side of the machine I needed to make something to fit around my windows so my goal was to fill the space with characters from movies and cartoons from the 80s and 90s, all of which are featured pinball tables on the machine.

I designed the template based off my machines design and sourced as many high resolution images I could find, layered some background textures and lightning behind it all and hid a few easter eggs in the artwork such as an atari joystick, rubix cube, E.T, Audio Cassette, Halloween pumpkin and of course a “Where’s Wally” (as we called him in Australia.

The design took me a few days to finalise and I had to do both sides of the machine as an opposite mirror which also gave a chance to move some characters around a bit on each side.

I then also had to do some artwork for the front and sides of the backbox to make it a complete design. My 3 favourite movies from the 80s are obviously Terminator 2, Robocop and Back to the Future which is what I based the main theme on.

The artwork I would get printed and professionally applied by one of my good mates old man who operated a sign writing business and was able to do me a great custom job, this came out to be $300aud for print and application which was decent enough for me.

The last thing to do was to get some quotes for glass which I was able to request based on the measurements of my CAD design and found the best source to be a company that made custom shower screens and custom cut glass. They were able to offer me a couple of options, I opted for standard laminate glass which they said would be a simple job and was under $100aud.

With all the setup, design and planning done it was now time to move onto sourcing the cabinet wood and deciding how to best cut such large pieces…

Selecting The Wood

In my research I had already decided I would use 18mm thick wood panels, just had to decide between MDF or PLY. Official cabinets are made mostly from Birch or similar Ply wood but this was rather expensive to get 2 x 1200 x 2400mm sheets in 18mm and in all honesty, while it is much tougher than MDF it simply was not needed for my project as I didn’t have to worry about my machine being shipped around and abused so for 1/4 the cost I chose MDF which I could simply collect from my local hardware store

I broke all the CAD pieces apart in my design and laid them out on the sheets so I could determine how things would fit and how much MDF I would need and everything fit easily on 2 sheets of 1200x2400mm panels.

With the parts all laid out I was then able to print this cut list out and simply translate the measurements of each piece to the sheets and then cut them out. This took an afternoon to do and from here things started to progress pretty quickly.

Tools Required

I consider myself a handyman, maker type of person who has enough basic skills to take on a project like this. However I am no carpenter and certainly not an expert. It should be noted that all you need is a basic knowledge of woodworking and some basic tools with a few more specialised tools to make things a bit easier, but one could manage with just a drill, saw and router.

The total breakdown of tools I used:

Circular Hand Saw
Kreg Accu-Cut Saw Slide
60mm Thick Styrofoam (for cutting panels with saw)
Steel Rulers (30cm, 50cm, 100cm)
Right Angle Ruler
Tape Measure
Cordless Drill
Assortment of drill pieces and Forstner Bits for countersinking button holes
Hand Saw
Hack Saw (to cut aluminum angle)
Plunge Router (with “T-Molding” router bit to cut groove for t-molding)
Jigsaw (to cut doors and larger holes)
Large wood clamps (had a few and borrowed a few from father in law)
Paint Gun (cheapest one I could get from hardware store)
Kreg pocket hole jig (allows hidden screws to fix backbox together and bottom of cabinet but could use other fitting options)
Orbital sander + sanding block
Assorted screws, brackets
Screwdrivers, Socket Set

That is basically all that was needed. Just a typical set of handyman tools that most sheds will have, no large machines. I did use my drop saw for a few simple cuts but it’s not needed.

To cut the cabinet pieces I used a circular saw and a Kreg Accu-Cut Saw Guide which I had to purchase but budgeted this into the build as it was useful in general and also worth the effort to attempt the project to also justify some useful tools. I am all for buying tools for a project as they come in useful down the track usually.

I also sourced a large piece of Styrofoam sheet from a supplier, an end cutoff so was able to get cheap and this simply sits under the wood sheets allowing the caw to cut through without having to worry about supporting the sheet. This proved to be a super easy and fast way to cut all pieces allowing everything to be cut within a few hours. If I was to make any suggestion for needed tools, this combination would be the best bet as even a saw table would have been close to useless for some of these angled cuts.

With my blueprints drawn up and some help from my son I translated all the measurements to the MDF sheets then started with the cuts.

Constructing The Cabinet

With all the basic pieces cut, double checked for size and squareness I moved onto adding in all the cutouts and holes for buttons, speakers, fans etc before building the cabinet.

First part I started on was the cabinet front where I needed to cut in holes for the buttons, plunger and figure out what I would do for the coin door.

For the buttons I uses a couple of forstner bits which are designed to sink holes and leave a flat profile. I used my small drill press to sink each of the holes down enough for the button to sit just below the cabinet surface which makes for a nice tidy appearance. I then drilled out the center using a hand drill and a slightly smaller forstner bit.

Once I had the button holes drilled out I cut out the door, shaved about 10mm off of 2 sides and then cut some angle aluminium to make a nice frame around both the door and the door frame and this created a nice snug fit

Next I measured the position of the side viewing windows and drilled out the corners then used the jigsaw to cut these out followed by cutting out the rest of the holes for the fans, sub, power switch and the notch holes where the leg bolts would go through the cabinet to the bracket. This was much easier than trying to make a jig after the cabinet was built to drill into the corners and as with the entire build, having the whole cabinet designed in CAD made quick work of cutting out all the required cutouts with accuracy

With all the cutouts done it was time to assemble the cabinet. Before fixing the main cabinet together I started by installing the supports for the bottom of the cabinet that would allow the base to simply sit inside, mounted recessed inside by 30mm to allow for external sub and fan grills to mount on the bottom but not stick out from the base of the cabinet

Some large clamps were used to test fit the pieces together, make sure things were square and fit right before glue and pocket screws were installed to fully fit it together

Each piece was cut and sanded square so thee edges would fit together flush. Pocket screws were screwed inwards from the outside to send the screw into the cabinet and not the pointing outwards towards the edge. These will be filled with putty then sanded and painted before vinyl.

Note also the corner holes for the leg bolts were sketched and cut from the pieces to save having to drill these holes. This was a time saver.

The main components to be mounted on the base of the cabinet, sub, bass shakers, computer chassis, fans and power supplies were laid out to get an idea of the spacing

With the main cabinet put together and fitting nice and square, it was time to put the backbox together. Before the parts were fixed together, the T-Molding groove was cut using the router.

Wooden corner supports were glued and screwed in and these also held the back banel so were spaced in 18mm to allow for the back panel to sit in flush

The back panel is screwed into the corner supports and some additional supports added at the top and bottom, it is not glued in as it is designed to be removable should the monitors need to be swapped out (luckily as one was damaged during the build but covered by warranty).

The rear access panel sits in a bracketed groove at the bottom (just a rail on the inside and on the outside) and simply lifts out instead of being hinged. This is the same for the access door in the back of the cabinet allowing access into the back without having to pull the machine far out from the wall to open the door, just lift the panel out and put aside.

The backbox is fitted to side hinges that allow it to fold down onto the cabinet for transport and 2 internal bolts are fitted when setup to bolt the backbox to the cabinet. These are fitted after paint.

Prime & Paint

The cabinet was sanded down with 120 grit paper until all visible sides were nice and smooth for the vinyl to be applied. At the same time, any additional holes that needed to be drilled such as the rear vent holes in the backbox were done and then the whole cabinet was painted with an oil based primer and sealer.

It should be noted that an oil based primer is needed to prevent moisture from causing the vinyl artwork to bubble and lift later down the track. I ended up needing about 2L of paint which I chose to apply using a cheap electric paint sprayer which made quick work of paint and covered all surfaces evenly.

The cabinet was painted inside and out using white primer since I was making the inside viewable, I wanted it to look bright. Edges on the outside would be painted black where the vinyl artwork would not cover.

Before the final paint and sanding I fitted the backbox brackets and bolts that hold the backbox to the cabinet when setup, ready for the next stage of fitting the monitor brackets and front speaker apron.

Once the monitors and brackets were test fitted and I was happy with the fit of everything, it was all taken out and the final painting was done with black paint to hide any white edges around the outside of the cabinet.

I had to wait about 2 weeks for the oil paint to fully cure so I could sand it back smooth. The inside of the cabinet was not sanded, just the outer edges where artwork would be applied. This allowed me to start fitting things to the cabinet while I waited since the inside of the cabinet did not need sanding I could complete the build then do the final sand and then artwork application.

I ordered a custom size piece of laminated safety glass from a custom glass supplier which I measured up to fit the cabinet. To hold the glass I simply used the top edge of the cabinet lined with felt and a length of right angle aluminum with felt applied. This allows the glass to easily slide in and out when the lockdown bar is removed

Lockdown Bar

Next was to sortout the lockdown bar. Because of hte custom size of the cabinet a standard lockdown bar will not fit nicely without some changes so I decided to make one from wood with a nice softly sanded profile. My idea was to make it easily replaceable so I could maybe make a joystick controller for arcade games down the track. Using a long circular spring loop I had laying around out of a washing machine (always keel useful looking parts) I made this into an easy way to lock down the bar from the inside. Down the track I may make a steel bar, but for now this works just fine.

This marked the final piece of the puzzle to make fit for the whole cabinet to go together for a full test fit ready for installation of all the hardware.

Cabinet Build & Fitout

It was now time to fit all the pieces together and solve the ultimate issues that would arise.

Starting with the main cabinet the legs were fitted so it could be moved out of the hot shed (it was summer during this build) into the cooler patio area.

A quick mockup of the cabinet and backbox and then it was time to fit the side windows and lay out where the hardware would fit inside. Although I had initially laid these large components out in my CAD design, a few things needed to be changed around due to how the cables would run.

The side windows were cut from some 5mm sheets of acrylic and screwed into the cabinet. A chrome T-moulding strip would create a window frame after vinyl application.

Once all the hardware was placed and tested for proper fit, the wiring and installation of the computer could begin.

Wiring Things Up

Now came the process of wiring things up and getting everything working.

This is where a few components needed to be moved as I connected things together. The main I/O controller was initially set to be installed on the right side but due to all the front cab buttons being on the left, it made for a much neater install to move the board over to the other side. Additionally, the power supplies were to be installed at the back of the cab but made more sense to be installed in the middle

I setup all the different types of screws and bolts I felt I would need for the install, having different options makes the job quicker and easier.

I needed to modify the light bar to add a custom output to connect to a driver board to drive some high powered strobes I had in mind for the top of the cabinet. I ended up adding a custom triac driver to switch a higher current to 2 x 10W spotlights as the strobes.

I was finally able to pull out the buttons from my makeshift cardboard box controller to be installed. At this stage, all the front panel buttons, shaker, lights and solenoids were all connected and ready with some work on the audio system and then the backbox and computer to be completed

I bolted the monitors into the backbox and wired up the connections ready for the computer setup.

Since I setup the test system with a standard cheap PC case I opted to remove all the parts and reinstall in an open case to improve airflow and also make accessing the motherboard easier when installed.

Powerup & Test

With everything connected together and the software already pre-setup it was a matter of getting everything working again, iron out a few connection issues and then dive in and test things with more detail as well as improve some of the features of the Streamdeck shortcuts and backup system.

During tests it became clear the ball was not moving smoothly for all tables. Some tables had statter in the ball movements while others were fine. I spent weeks making adjustments and changes to settings which either did nothing or made other things worse. I concluded I would have to upgrade the GPU from a 3060 to a 4070ti which was more than I wanted to spend but ultimately what solved the problem and offered perfectly smooth gameplay on every table.

It was also discovered that the internal temps for the CPU with the stock cooler could reach throttling limits and even cause an overheat condition due to being outside and the middle of summer. The issue was with the bigger bGPU and more heat, the small CPU cooler just was not able to handle the cooling so I also had to upgrade to a water cooled AIO cooler which I managed to vent out the bottom of the cabinet.

Breakdown and Vinyl

I had the machine up and running for about a month testing the software, making improvements and finishing off small details with the cabinet. As mentioned I already had to upgrade the GPU to a more capable one and upgrade the CPU cooler with one that could vent the heat out of the cabinet and this all worked great

Now it was time to remove the playfield monitor, take the backbox off and remove all the buttons, do a final sanding and then take the whole machine 140km north to a friends signwriting business to have vinyl artwork printed and p[rofessionally applied.

Final Product

With all the work done and about 300 tables setup and working great, the result is more than I could have hoped for. I added some additional under cab lighting, some internal LED lighting and some of my 3D printed objects for some extra eye candy and the whole machine is not just a virtual pinball machine, it s a bit of a work of art where everything you see was self designed and built and i’m pretty impressed with the outcome. It is projects like this that make me always have a go at something, even if it will take me longer to achieve.

As of writing this it has been over a year since this project was completed and so far it has been working very well. There are some small software issues that are more related to how cobbled together the pinup popper browser works but hopefully this will improve one day. I now have about 500 curated tables and am very happy with how they all play.

A few last points to note. The software side is not all that complicated, however I have a strong computer background so there have been elements of the setup and tweaking that would be difficult for someone with limited PC knowledge.

Some tables do not have “DOF” instructions which means they do not trigger the solenoids or lights when you play. This may not bother some people but you can instantly feel the lack of feedback when you play without having knocks and flashes.

For these tables I program in my own DOF triggers direct into the table script and using a self developed automatic DOF template creator I can easily map the triggers to the devices and have it work without issue. This is not something most people can do.

I have also setup a lot of custom features such as when my machine starts and the PinUp software loads it will play a random song from a folder during the startup. I have created dozens of smart playlists to list different styles of tables to select from. I have also created my own update and backup solutions to allow me to browse for new tables and updates, push them to the table via my server and also auto backup the machine when it is switched on to my server which again, is not something the average joe can easily setup. I am thinking of doing a few videos or writeups on some of the finer points, leave a comment if this may be of interest.