I recently came by some source code to control the power driver board of a P2K machine. This is NOT Pinball 2000 source. This custom source was written by Daniel Johansson for his home made machine (which has been canceled).
Here’s some information about the source pulled from his site:
Below is the source code for the power-driver-board-part of my Sparks Pinball 2000 project. It is written in C as a Linux kernel module utilizing the real time extensions RTAI from https://www.rtai.org/. The sound and graphics part (not published here) is written in C++ as a Linux user space program. The communication between the two part are made using FIFO:s. The code must only be considered as test software. It is very poorly commented and may not be easy to read. If you make any modifications to it, please send me a copy…
Maybe there are someone out there who are interested in continue to build on the code and maybe write a Pinball 2000 Open Source Toolkit, that can be used by anyone interested in making their own Pinball 2000 game. If so, the code must be rewritten. It isn’t a good way to place everything that has to do with the power-driver-board (including the rules) in a kernel module. One idéa is to simpify the kernel module and let it only deal with functions that has directly to do with the power driver board like fire solenoids, flash lamps, running lamp patterns etc, and sending switch event up to a user space program where all the game code is written. Another way is to write everything in user space using RTAI-LXRT and skip the kernel module part…
Here is the code: ***. Disclaimer: The code is “as is”. Use it at your own risk. I will not be responsible for any hardware malfunction.
I included a definition file for SWEP1 for anyone interested in writing new software to their own game…
Paired with the information on Pinrepair.com, I think you could have a really good head start on a custom machine.
I have the code for my PBOS working to the point that I can coin up
1-4 players, and play a full game on the machine. Not to make it sound
too advanced, it does not do a lot, like score and multiball and most
of the sounds yet. But it has flippers, bumpers, slings, FIRE targets,
POWER targets, 1-6 targets, some sounds, and other stuff.
His website goes into some minor detail on the goals and progress. You can view that here: http://www.pbos.info
I don’t know about you but I sure hope he releases everything to the open source community. I’m a bit biased since I might be able to take it apply some/all of it to my machine.
Earlier in the week I ordered a few parts that I needed for the switch matrix of the machine. To give you a little sneak peak of what’s to come, I’ll let you know that it involves 10 CD4021BE chips and a lot of buttons. I just recieved them Saturday afternoon so it’s a bit early to say for sure how awesome they are (I’m pretty sure they will be super awesome). I’m hoping to connect at least 16 buttons/switches using 2 CD4021BE chips and 3 pins on the propeller chip.
I’ve also decided that I want to get a real machine. Not to salvage, but to get dimensions and an idea of how things are positioned on the playfield. I want to get a better understanding on how the flipper system and the ball kickers work. If you have or know where I can get a cheap machine, please let me know.
As far as the machine design I’ve made a few changes and ‘maybe’ changes. The biggest change is that I’m tossing around the idea about nixing the 7″ LCD on the head. I’m not sure of what it can add to the head that a nice back glass can’t. We’ll see what I can work out. I figured the design part was going to be the most difficult task. So far I’m proving myself right
I haven’t forgotten about open sourcing pinball. I picked out the wiki software and got it all setup. I’m struggling getting through the documention on how to customize it now. I swear there has to be a million sperate options to customize. On top of that I’m working on getting information in the system before it goes public. If you’d like to help contribute to the wiki before it goes public send me an email (mespam@jeremymeltonspam.com) or leave a comment and let me know that you’re interested. I’ll give you access and help you get started.
So there you have it, quite a few things going on this past week, and a lot more to come. As long as everything goes to plan, I should have schematics and code up for the switch matrix and a few more sketches up this week. If I get lucky I’ll have another update on the open source community project.
Now this is just a crazy cool idea. I’m actually at a loss of words…
“The ////furminator is a pinball machine that puts the player in a first person perspective similar to modern “EGO Shooter” video games. Like being inside a huge VR-helmet, the player’s head is stuck into the ////furminator capsule. His nose is situated right behind the flipper fingers, only centimeters away from the ball. Sealed off from reality and with his head arrested inside a force-feedback-helmet, the sound- and lighteffects, the mechanical noises of the pinball and the absorbing perspective create a highly immersive mechatronic environment.”
You’ve waited long enough and I’ll keep this post short so you can get to the pictures! Here are some rough sketches of some ideas that I’m thinking about for my machine.
As you can see I’m planning to create a professional level machine (quality/details/features) with some fresh ideas. Not being a manufacture has some benefits. I can include things that would be virtually impossible for a manufacture, like Stern to create (Manufacturing and licensing costs).
(Click an image for fullsize)
First Sketch of the overall machine. Notice the not so standard head. I also prefer the overall layout of the head on this sketch.
First sketch of the playfield (yikes!)
First sketch of the head
Second, slightly more detailed sketch
Lastest Sketch. Still lots of details to sort out
Rivalry Mode. I’ll probably expand on this at a later date. (Red Sox Suck)
Factoids and notes:
As of now my goal is to create a tribute of sorts to the old stadium. A lot of the design decisions are made with this in mind.
Overall I want to stay away from the pitch and bat machines (except for the mini playfield)
The mini playfield will be a small scale of the new stadium.
The mini playfield will play like a ‘pitch-n-bat’ machine.
The rivalry mode is quite complex. I’m not sure if it will make it to the final machine.
‘Big Hurt‘ is the only comercially made baseball related machine — excluding pitch and bat machines.
