Pinball fx2 messes with fx3

[RedHoodRobin64]

 

Heres a link to some ideas that ive had. Im very obsessed with unique things. So if your looking to get some insperation theres some cool stuff in here

[NeonNightRide]

11 hours ago, RedHoodRobin64 said:

That cab is amazing. The shape is exactly like mine only my button lay out is different. So big post you got so if i miss anything please let me know. Trust me its really cool to have someone share there build with me. I live in vermont in the middle of the woods and i swear im the only person around here that mostly knows how to do this stuff. Im so happy the off topic helped. It helped me also because sirfirboy bobby taught me some ausome skills to build control scheme directions and helped me with video making for marquee videos. At the bottom of this post il point you to 2 other posts I have that may interest you.

As for the health deeply apreciated. I just have a insane amount of inflimation in my chest. Hoping it calms down so i can start making crazy stuff again. Didnt have time to plug in the arcade. Its all put together but the pc is upstairs with me so I can play with it when im resting.

As for the sticks, i just keep them as full anologue. I have octoganal gates to help make it feel like a anologue dpad essentially. Steam defently perfers this with games that use anologue and you shouldnt run into probs with mame.

So to program your ipacs ultimates, your right, they work when both plugged in but in order to program there functions, you have to have them plugged in 1 at a time. The buttons i have programed as button 1 button 2 ect... Then my function buttons are enter for play, volume up and down ect...

Heres where i got creative. Now im no expert and just figured this out on my own. In led blinky, i told the ultimate io boards that my buttons are keyboard keys even tho there not. One of the apps that led blinky has, the one that tells the pc what button is each light. The reason why is if your running x360ce so steam will recognize your controls, this makes led blinky strugle to know whats what in mame because its seeing the xbox buttons and not your virtual gamepad buttons from the ipac.

example. All 4 players on my board have 7 buttons. 9 including start and coin/select. Buttons 1 through 7 are a,b,c,d,e,f,g in led blinky. But on my ipac its buttons 1,2,3,4,5,6 7,start,select. P2 would be h,i,j,k,l,m,n and so on. The start buttons for each player is 1,2,3,4 and coin is 5,6,7,8. If this needs to be explained better let me know. Long story short, tell led blinky your buttons are keyboard keys even tho its not, then when you code your lights per game, you can say i need a,b,1,5 on for p1 for super mario bros for nes. H,i,2,6 on for p2

Thats exciting you have a swivel mount. I too have one. Theres so much more then vertical mame you can do. You can use blue stacks which is a android emulator to play phone games. You can have a gaint ds/3ds. It also makes great for full size pinball. Just so much possibilities.

Now for your lights are they just led or are they rgb programable lights? Feel free to message me anytime. Not a bother at all. Hopefully this all works out great for you. Its hard to go back to playing console when you make something as ausome as this.

Heres my build at my old house sence we are sharing.

Wow, that's an incredible setup.  I am planning on doing a second screen as well for marquees as well, but wanted to get the main screen and cab setup first.  The eventual plan is to be able to use the second screen in front my racing cockpit so that I could play some of the arcade racing games as well.

 

 

 Quick question you may or may not know the answer to for when I get to the pinball setup stuff.  It appearsLlaunchBox can support 1 extra screen for marquee and such.   It looks like LED Blinky can control a Pixelcade LED marquee on its own.   Here is my thought, and let me know if you think this is possible....

The main TV as my playfield, launchbox would control the 2nd screen for marquees and such but when it comes to pinball it could be the back glass.  I would also use LED Blinky to control the wall mounted Pixelcade that could show logo art for mame and such then be used as a DMD for pinball.   

Here is an example of someone using just the wall mounted Pixelcade as a DMD.  My goal would try to add a second screen to this setup as well.  

https://creativeartsandtechnology.com/product/pixelcade-wall-mount/#

 

This may not be possible, but tell me your thoughts on if you think it is configurable.  

 

 

Now about the LED Blinky setup.  I have RGB buttons.  I think I understand you correctly when it comes to the programming, but wanted to double check what would happen on the backend.   I have today off and I am going to start programming LED Blinky as I finally got the trackball setup with the lights and such.   But to reiterate...   for player 1 setup WinIpac for P1 buttons 1-8 to be gamepad buttons 1-8 ( we will just start there and not worry about coin/select or admin buttons for the moment).  Then in LED Blinky configure Player1 buttons as a-h.   Now my question is with using Mame and the color ini file that tells LED Blinky what colors each game uses and for which buttons.    If programmed correctly, I am assuming the color ini file will be able to be configured using the new control scheme somewhere in the setup process?  Or did you have to manually configure every game after changing the control scheme?  

 

An addition question I forgot to ask last night about configuring using Xinput through X360ce.   Were you able to set it up so that each of the virtual joypads can be "stuck" as P1 P2 P3 and P4.  I am just worried that the controller IDs might get swapped during reboots and such.  This maybe simply how x360ce works my default, but figured I would double check before I start programing a bit later after the LED Blinky config.  

 

Again, thanks so much for your time, and you really do have an awesome setup! You have definitely inspired my and got me thinking of some bigger ideas as the project unfolds.  

Edit:  As I am trying to configure X360ce, it looks like you can only select the keyboard for one of the controllers (i.e. using numbered buttons as start and select)  did you  not configure start and select for x360ce and just configure mame to use a keyboard command?  Thanks!

Edited December 10, 2022 by NeonNightRide

[SrfrBoyBobby]

1 hour ago, NeonNightRide said:

If programmed correctly, I am assuming the color ini file will be able to be configured using the new control scheme somewhere in the setup process?  Or did you have to manually configure every game after changing the control scheme?  

There are a good collection of games setup in these files but I went through and manually created my entire mame collection by hand. I based the callouts and colors off of the photos, cpo art  and manuals.  I also was able to create a color theme for the frontend controls continuity (exit, reset and pause)

Edit: Forgot to mention another method is to check out rocketblinky  I didn’t try it but it is suppose to be some sort of automatic setup for ledblinky   

Edited December 10, 2022 by SrfrBoyBobby
Added note, removed duplicate photo

[RedHoodRobin64]

1 hour ago, NeonNightRide said:

Wow, that's an incredible setup.  I am planning on doing a second screen as well for marquees as well, but wanted to get the main screen and cab setup first.  The eventual plan is to be able to use the second screen in front my racing cockpit so that I could play some of the arcade racing games as well.

 

 

 Quick question you may or may not know the answer to for when I get to the pinball setup stuff.  It appearsLlaunchBox can support 1 extra screen for marquee and such.   It looks like LED Blinky can control a Pixelcade LED marquee on its own.   Here is my thought, and let me know if you think this is possible....

The main TV as my playfield, launchbox would control the 2nd screen for marquees and such but when it comes to pinball it could be the back glass.  I would also use LED Blinky to control the wall mounted Pixelcade that could show logo art for mame and such then be used as a DMD for pinball.   

Here is an example of someone using just the wall mounted Pixelcade as a DMD.  My goal would try to add a second screen to this setup as well.  

https://creativeartsandtechnology.com/product/pixelcade-wall-mount/#

 

This may not be possible, but tell me your thoughts on if you think it is configurable.  

 

 

Now about the LED Blinky setup.  I have RGB buttons.  I think I understand you correctly when it comes to the programming, but wanted to double check what would happen on the backend.   I have today off and I am going to start programming LED Blinky as I finally got the trackball setup with the lights and such.   But to reiterate...   for player 1 setup WinIpac for P1 buttons 1-8 to be gamepad buttons 1-8 ( we will just start there and not worry about coin/select or admin buttons for the moment).  Then in LED Blinky configure Player1 buttons as a-h.   Now my question is with using Mame and the color ini file that tells LED Blinky what colors each game uses and for which buttons.    If programmed correctly, I am assuming the color ini file will be able to be configured using the new control scheme somewhere in the setup process?  Or did you have to manually configure every game after changing the control scheme?  

 

An addition question I forgot to ask last night about configuring using Xinput through X360ce.   Were you able to set it up so that each of the virtual joypads can be "stuck" as P1 P2 P3 and P4.  I am just worried that the controller IDs might get swapped during reboots and such.  This maybe simply how x360ce works my default, but figured I would double check before I start programing a bit later after the LED Blinky config.  

 

Again, thanks so much for your time, and you really do have an awesome setup! You have definitely inspired my and got me thinking of some bigger ideas as the project unfolds.  

Edit:  As I am trying to configure X360ce, it looks like you can only select the keyboard for one of the controllers (i.e. using numbered buttons as start and select)  did you  not configure start and select for x360ce and just configure mame to use a keyboard command?  Thanks!

Having the backglass as your second screen and pixel cade shouldnt be a prob tho i always wanted one but never had the money to snag one. I know for a fact that with vpx, it shouldnt be a prob. Pinball fx tho, im not entirely sure. Im sure if theres a will theres a way. My set up i made my 2nd marquee both the backglass and the dmd. Just shrunk the dmd down so the backglass was a good size. My goal was to get a pixel cade so I can have the video backglass play on the second screen where movie clips would play but i never got the chance to try.

You and i are on the same wave length. I too was going to use the second screen as a racing booth. I am planning to have it also work with the switch. Just change the channel and boom mario kart booth with the red and black mario kart wheels. Then when not in use, its a marquee screen or backglass for games.

Ya so x360ce is a pain in the ass in that regard. That was why i needed that special firmware from andy. So just have start and coin be p1 start, p1 select. Same with other players. The led blinky thing i tried to explain yesterday is a bit confusing. It may not be the most optimal way to do it but it was the only way i could get x360ce and led blinky to get along. Later tonight il send some screen shots that will hopefully explain better then i can.

The only prob i ran in which was wierd was on reeboot, sometimes your pc will see your sticks with the same name but its a duplicate. Idk how to explain it but in x360ce when you choose a device for a player, you may see ultrastick p1 twice. One being conected and one not. All i did was swapped it to the newly connected one of the same thing and i havnt had a prob powering off sence. 

Take a look at that wacky ideas thread if you get a chance. If im not mistaken I belive there may be some led blinky related stuff in there. I know mame is its own kinda beast and had to do some forum searching to figure it out. Like i said when im home il defenently see if i can get some screen shots to explain all this better.

Makes me happy that this post helped someone. I was someone who never grew up with a computer so i for the most part had to figure all this out on my own. But its so much fun and the ideas usually keep coming. So much possibilities

I hope this helps some. Il keep in touch tonight

[RedHoodRobin64]

25 minutes ago, SrfrBoyBobby said:

There are a good collection of games setup in these files but I went through and manually created my entire mame collection by hand. I based the callouts and colors off of the photos, cpo art  and manuals.  I also was able to create a color theme for the frontend controls continuity (exit, reset and pause)

Edit: Forgot to mention another method is to check out rocketblinky  I didn’t try it but it is suppose to be some sort of automatic setup for ledblinky   

Hey long time no see! Hope your well! Still using that photo shop stuff you provided. Im pre planning if we ever get 3rd marquee support to have a static control scheme image always up. And hell if not then i can atleast provide the images to the pause functionality in big box. Thanks again for pushing me forward in my projects!

[NeonNightRide]

42 minutes ago, SrfrBoyBobby said:

There are a good collection of games setup in these files but I went through and manually created my entire mame collection by hand. I based the callouts and colors off of the photos, cpo art  and manuals.  I also was able to create a color theme for the frontend controls continuity (exit, reset and pause)

Edit: Forgot to mention another method is to check out rocketblinky  I didn’t try it but it is suppose to be some sort of automatic setup for ledblinky   

Man, that is the route I am going to have to go.  Sounds like it might take a while, but the journey is half the fun.  That setup is incredible as well!   I love those eclipse buttons you have on there! I bought them for my gold leaf RGBs, but every one I have installed so far must be made incorrectly, because when I replace the caps with the black ones, it forces the switch to be continuously depressed.  I don't know if it is on my end or the buttons themselves.  I will have to reach out to Andy and see what's up.  

 

I just got my first controller setup in x360CE.   My son is giving it a shot with Shredder's Revenge!   Time to start programming players 3-4 and then move onto LED Blinky.  So much fun!    Again, can't thank you guys enough for sharing your experiences and continuing to provide helpful feedback.   

 

 

[SrfrBoyBobby]

Hey Red! Things are good. Work is crazy but still adding on to the arcade. Got some Sinden light guns and 3d printed some custom holster adapters plates and a community designed stock attachment.
 

I also figured out why my dolphin bar for Wii wouldn’t work so been busy adding that stuff. Btw - the dolphin bar will not work if steam is launched… wrote an ahk script to kill it but trying to figure out a clean relaunch behind the scenes. Want to be seamless to the user. I got steam to launch silent and stop stealing focus “most” of the time but still needs more testing. 
 

I’m been lurking hard for awhile due to schedule but I have seen a good amount of your posted marquees. Looking good!  Hope the family is well. 
 

*included a picture of the new black light rug I bought. I love it! 

[SrfrBoyBobby]

22 minutes ago, NeonNightRide said:

I love those eclipse buttons you have on there! I bought them for my gold leaf RGBs, but every one I have installed so far must be made incorrectly, because when I replace the caps with the black ones, it forces the switch to be continuously depressed.  I don't know if it is on my end or the buttons themselves.  I will have to reach out to Andy and see what's up.  

My buttons are the groovy gamer version with micro leaf switches but I still had a similar problem. The placement of the zip ties on the harness (how close to the switch) tends to make a big difference on mine switches. I also added zip ties on mine in places to hold the switches in position. Also it won’t match symmetry but you can try rotating the button to change the wiring harness tension.  
 

I’m glad you found our Run-On / Multi-Thread post helpfull.  It has been a great place for inspiration and a great community too! Best of luck and Game On!

[SrfrBoyBobby]

29 minutes ago, NeonNightRide said:

Man, that is the route I am going to have to go.  Sounds like it might take a while, but the journey is half the fun.  That setup is incredible as well!

Thanks! 5 year build after work and on the weekends. Also about the time it took for the manual setup of the mame callouts and color… I was able to get through about 100 games a day once a figured out the color scheme and how to have continuity in the colors and callouts. 

[RedHoodRobin64]

30 minutes ago, SrfrBoyBobby said:

Hey Red! Things are good. Work is crazy but still adding on to the arcade. Got some Sinden light guns and 3d printed some custom holster adapters plates and a community designed stock attachment.
 

I also figured out why my dolphin bar for Wii wouldn’t work so been busy adding that stuff. Btw - the dolphin bar will not work if steam is launched… wrote an ahk script to kill it but trying to figure out a clean relaunch behind the scenes. Want to be seamless to the user. I got steam to launch silent and stop stealing focus “most” of the time but still needs more testing. 
 

I’m been lurking hard for awhile due to schedule but I have seen a good amount of your posted marquees. Looking good!  Hope the family is well. 
 

*included a picture of the new black light rug I bought. I love it! 

That set up is amazing. Im hoping to build a really untraditional arcade set up called the corner cade. Gonna redesign the entire cab completely and just be completely unnecessary with it. Everyones gonna have a spinner. I stumbled apon a product that has a steering wheel that lays flat on a panel. Its not a spinner tho so it would work as a cockpit wheel. Want some pedals on the bottom. 

That dolphin bar fix has me very intrigued. Ive been having a hell of a time standing at my cab with my chest so as of late i have been obsessed with making the nintendo switch online and 8bitdo mod kits work on pc. Thats been a absolute blast. But having the wii motes fully functional with out hiccups would be ausome! The super console project ive worked on is just so neat because i have multiple copies of retroarch. I press a button while better joy is on and the n64 switch online controller instantly conects and feels authentic. When im done with it, 1 press of the sync button and i press a button on say the sega genesis controller and back and fourth i go. The other thing thats so ausome with those controllers in particular is they have extra buttons then the traditional versions which make perfect for function keys.

I have the sinden light guns. 2 with recoil but i could not get them to work well. Couldnt get mame to recognize it. All i got it doing is being a mouse pointer. Makes me mad i spent so much but maybe il take a crack at it again.

As for the videos thats been quite the work out. There very all over the place on quality and it drives me nuts. My new design im happy with but i need some tips with triming videos. Been using windows photos for it and its hurting some videos when i clip stuff. Maybe you have a recomendation on video editing software to perserve quality?

Anywho the whole set up you got is epic and motivates me to really go nuts in my basement. Gonna have to get back into all this tinkering with my cab soon. Miss it like crazy

 

 

 

 

[RedHoodRobin64]

38 minutes ago, NeonNightRide said:

Man, that is the route I am going to have to go.  Sounds like it might take a while, but the journey is half the fun.  That setup is incredible as well!   I love those eclipse buttons you have on there! I bought them for my gold leaf RGBs, but every one I have installed so far must be made incorrectly, because when I replace the caps with the black ones, it forces the switch to be continuously depressed.  I don't know if it is on my end or the buttons themselves.  I will have to reach out to Andy and see what's up.  

 

I just got my first controller setup in x360CE.   My son is giving it a shot with Shredder's Revenge!   Time to start programming players 3-4 and then move onto LED Blinky.  So much fun!    Again, can't thank you guys enough for sharing your experiences and continuing to provide helpful feedback.   

IMG_3465.MOV 10.83 MB · 0 downloads  

 

I have those exact buttons and tried the eclypse caps. Exact same prob. Took me forever to figure out why my cab was geeking out. I swear in ultimarc website those caps were marketed to work with gold leaf but i guess not

[RedHoodRobin64]

 

Heres the wheel thing i was talking about

[SrfrBoyBobby]

14 minutes ago, RedHoodRobin64 said:

I have the sinden light guns. 2 with recoil but i could not get them to work well. Couldnt get mame to recognize it. All i got it doing is being a mouse pointer. Makes me mad i spent so much but maybe il take a crack at it again.

I waited to buy mine until it was a single software launch for two players. This works well. The recoils weren’t too bad now. Maybe it was a problem before. I followed a few YouTube setup videos with very little problem. Where it took more tinkering was the swapping of recoil styles for different games. The community made sinden profiler which does this. It took a minute to figure out the cmd stuff in the additional app section in LB but now I know it so it’s easy. Also figuring out how to keep the sinden software in the background with boot up / first launch / re launch took a second too but I can help if you go down that road. 
 

Sorry to hear you you can enjoy the cabinet right now but your other projects sound pretty interesting too. I hope you can check out the wii / steam thing and the light guns. 
 

Game On!

[SrfrBoyBobby]

Red - that’s pretty cool. I have been using an Elgato Pedal. I set it up as key strokes and use it as additional pedal inputs for when the adults play. I’m worried the really young ones will not be able to play due to usb port and potential breakage. It’s built really well but not analogue inputs. Also works great for time crisis and time crisis 5 

[SrfrBoyBobby]

Also thinking about designing a custom wheel for my spinner and print it out. Just a lot of other things to accomplish first. 

[RedHoodRobin64]

3 minutes ago, SrfrBoyBobby said:

I waited to buy mine until it was a single software launch for two players. This works well. The recoils weren’t too bad now. Maybe it was a problem before. I followed a few YouTube setup videos with very little problem. Where it took more tinkering was the swapping of recoil styles for different games. The community made sinden profiler which does this. It took a minute to figure out the cmd stuff in the additional app section in LB but now I know it so it’s easy. Also figuring out how to keep the sinden software in the background with boot up / first launch / re launch took a second too but I can help if you go down that road. 
 

Sorry to hear you you can enjoy the cabinet right now but your other projects sound pretty interesting too. I hope you can check out the wii / steam thing and the light guns. 
 

Game On!

Youve inspired me to give the guns another whirl. Took almost a year on a waiting list to get them. I know alot more now then i did back then so i hope to get them going. Id never stop playing house of the dead. Do you know if they ever solved the 2 player prob in dolphin?

Ya the tinkering will never stop no matter how disfunctional I am lol. To adicting. But il get back into it hopefully. Theres always something cool to make or try. 

[RedHoodRobin64]

1 minute ago, SrfrBoyBobby said:

Also thinking about designing a custom wheel for my spinner and print it out. Just a lot of other things to accomplish first. 

I feel that struggle lol

[RedHoodRobin64]

4 minutes ago, SrfrBoyBobby said:

Red - that’s pretty cool. I have been using an Elgato Pedal. I set it up as key strokes and use it as additional pedal inputs for when the adults play. I’m worried the really young ones will not be able to play due to usb port and potential breakage. It’s built really well but not analogue inputs. Also works great for time crisis and time crisis 5 

Holy crap my wifes gonna hate you for this! Lol thanks for sharing!

[NeonNightRide]

 

Wow, a lot to parse through here!

Thanks for the tips on the buttons guys.  I am going to try rotating and figuring out a workaround to get them to work.  I was going to scrap them, but after seeing them on your setup, I am going to try and get a solution going.   Also, that rug is amazing!! Totally worth it.  

I want to get the system stable and playable and then I will starting working on some of the Marquees, LED Blinky configs and such.  

 

Also, I order a pair of the Sinden guns a couple of weeks ago, so again thanks for some of the tips on them, even though I have no idea when they might show up.  I already purchased some of the custom stocks very similar to yours.  Do you think the mod is worth it?  I may shoot over some questions when they get here and I have trouble setting them up.  

 

Red - I saw what you were talking about on reboot, where I got doubles of every device after reboot on x360ce.  I went in and added the connected versions that populated, so hopefully those will stick.  The issue I am facing now after I setup all four is that it seems the analogue sticks seem to not be working through x360ce.   I did have to go through the ultrastik software to remap them to analogue, but hopefully after some tinkering I can get them all working at the same time.  It also, might be that I am using a usb hub for both IPACS and 4 ultrastiks, so I will try and see if that is too much for the hub.  

 

Also, when you programmed your controls for MAME, it shows ALL devices when I go into the settings to reconfigure controls(emulated xbox controllers, ultrastiks, Ipacs, etc).   Did you use HID Guardian to try and hide everything except the emulated xbox controllers?  I tried it, and that seems to be where some of the issues started.   It is hard to pinpoint, as  I added the rest of the controllers in x360ce, tried running HID Guardian, and testing MAME all at once.  So not sure if any or all of those had any impact.  I ran out of time yesterday afternoon but hopefully will be able to make some progress this afternoon.  

 

Edited to add that I also ordered some of the octagonal restrictor plates you mentioned from Andy yesterday.  Should be here by the end of the week.  

Edited December 11, 2022 by NeonNightRide

[NeonNightRide]

Just to Update.  I took the USB Hub out of the equation and that seems to be what was causing the issue.  I have everything hooked directly into the PC and all seems fine.