The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => Your Collection => Topic started by: Mr Pinbologist on January 02, 2009, 03:41:35 PM
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Hi guys... thought it was about time i pulled my finger out and posted a few pics of my home brew Vortex machine i built about 15 years ago. Four player SS, double level playfield (one below the main pf, viewed thru a perspex window in the main pf).
It started out as an empty gottlieb Charlies Angels cab, using parts ratted from several different machines including the Charlies Angels from which it originated. Playfield(s) were built from scratch, Backglass is just a Star trek poster with the name removed :lol . Simple and not real imaginative i know but it was the best i could do at the time.
It took me nearly a year to build, and much trial and error.. including the electronics (all my own design except for the Bally displays i used)... not a microprocessor in sight!
Hope you all like... i'll add more later if anyone wants to know more
Cheers... Mitch
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Man this is awesome. Eventually i will definately build something of my own but im nowhere near doing something like that yet. Well Done!
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Wow! All I have got to say is:
http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/startrek3/images/soundengage.wav
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That is SIMPLY AWESOME !!!!!
I am lost for words - that looks absolutely incredible. You will need to tell us MORE about this machine ;
How long did it take ?
Did you use Gottlieb playfield parts - I like the lane guides !
More pix, please !
#*# #*# #*#
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Thanks guys. Give me time to get some more pics of the inside/boards etc and i'll add more. I only wish i had taken pics when i actually built it, you see i had no idea then that anyone would actually be interested in (or care) how the game all came together (at the time i built it i mean).
I sent pics of this game to Michael Shalhoub when i ordered his latest book. He said he really liked it and that he'd like to feature this game in his next book! so there's something to look forward to hey? #*# How cool is that???!!
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You didnt think we'd be interested!!!! We want details mate! You should be so proud of this as it is just unbelievable. No more complaining about the artwork etc, its all your own choice. Multi level playfield, man thats so cool!!!
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You sir are a genius. I tip my hat off to you. Well done! I could not even begin to imagine how to go about doing this.
What was your motivation?
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Keen to know what sort of controller is in use... !@#
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This is very impressive, well done!.
Looking forward to hearing more about it.
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hey, sweet. *%*
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Man I thought my Asteroid Annie was rare! With a production run of 1 'Vortex' wins hands down #*#
Well done, this must have taken for ever, looks super proffesional, luv the sunken playfield under the perspex.
Great Stuff $%$
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Ok.. a little background into how this game came together.
As mentioned before, it started out as a Gtb Charlies Angels that was in very poor condition, that I picked up at the same time as my Buck Rogers and Solar Ride. I actually went to buy the Buck Rogers only (for $100 not working but complete), from a caravan park in Laurieton (NSW midnorth coast). On arriving I saw the Charlies Angels sitting outside the gamesroom, with a water damaged backglass (it had been rained on, half of the art gone), and no boards, displays etc. Also he had the Solar Ride he was selling for $150 (working but memory problems).
Anyway after looking at and buying the Buck and Solar Ride, I was offered the Charlies Angels for free! Who was I to complain? I then borrowed an F150 ute from my cousin to haul them home. The CA sat in the shed for a few months while I got the other two going, and deciding what to do with it.
At one point I considered trying to restore the CA as well, as I had played and liked this game. It had a really nice pf which I ended up raiding for parts (im kinda sorry I did that now). But the backglass was shot and I thought id never find another so at that point the plan to build my own game was hatched. Id already built several smaller 2/3rd size pinball games since getting hooked on pins a few years prior to this one. All but one of these had since been scrapped so now I had a desire to create a full size version!!
First thing I did was come up with an interesting pf layout. Not long before starting this id played Haunted House and was very taken with the idea of a smaller pf below the main one.. so this idea was a must! I decided to be a bit different and turn it round opposite to HH. I actually started with the lower pf design and layout. Drawing it out onto a piece of plywood I had on hand, and drilling and cutting for the parts before hand painting the artwork (id already decided on a space theme as it was simple to draw spaceships and planets etc, and id found the Star Trek poster that I used behind the backglass).
A mixture of Gtb, Stern/bally and Wms parts went into the game. Originally I had bumper assys from a Stern Dracula on the main pf, and one from the CA pf on the lower pf. Recently I changed these to newer style Wms/Bally bumper bodies and clear blue caps. On the lower pf, drop targets, stand up targets and flipper assys came from a Dracula pf. The slingshot kicker and lane kickers came from a Wms Superstar pf and the Dracula pf respectively. Some of the coils were rewound or made from scratch as needed. The kicker for the top kickout hole (obscured by the piece of Perspex top right in the 2nd pic, put there to keep the ball from jumping out), was hand made.
The main pf I made from mdf board… not ideal I know, but its held up well over the years. Once again hand painted… spray painted much of the art masked off and sprayed, and some of it hand drawn. Some of the lettering was hand written and the rest done with rub on transfer lettering. Automotive acrylic spray paint and sharpie pens were used before being clearcoated with acrylic then mylared. The window is 3/16’’ Perspex recessed into the pf. Drop target assy, slingshot kickers, and main flipper assys are from the CA pf, the latter using bally/stern coils. Because I used a Stern transformer I couldn’t use the Gtb coil on the target bank so I hand made my own coil from scratch. Standup targets are from the Superstar and Dracula pf’s. The brackets for the slingshot coils (from the Drac pf), had to be cut, bent and welded to clear the lower pf, my brother helped me with this as he was the welder in the family.. so that was the only work not done by me. Lamp inserts for both pf’s came from the CA and Drac pf’s that the other parts came from.
Much trial n error went into the placement of some of the posts/guides etc to get the best game play possible. Pics below show the underside of the pf’s, wiring etc. Notice in the top left of the last pic the Up Kicker and pvc tube to direct the ball. And YES it was a royal pain in the arse getting it to work reliably! I used a modified Gtb bumper coil bracket to hold the Wms coil and microswitch.
Next post I’ll go into some detail about the electronics.
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Great update, although I must admit, it is just mind boggling that you have a working pinball from scratch. Most "home made" machines LOOK "home made" - This machine looks like it was built around the time of the early system 80s perhaps ? I like the "classic" look of the game. If it was a game in an arcade - I would definitely play it.
How good would it be to have Vortex and Coconut Island side-by-side. #*#
$%$
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All i can say is this is a fantastic looking machine and a great job done building it #*#
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OMG Mitch....I am just lost for words.
To think somebody could achieve this, you should be so proud!
Thanks for sharing this game with us!
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Great update, although I must admit, it is just mind boggling that you have a working pinball from scratch. Most "home made" machines LOOK "home made" - This machine looks like it was built around the time of the early system 80s perhaps ? I like the "classic" look of the game. If it was a game in an arcade - I would definitely play it.
How good would it be to have Vortex and Coconut Island side-by-side. #*#
$%$
It does look very professional indeed, can't wait for the electronics side info!
V and CI together??? "AP - Home of the Home-mades" ^^^
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Great update, although I must admit, it is just mind boggling that you have a working pinball from scratch. Most "home made" machines LOOK "home made" - This machine looks like it was built around the time of the early system 80s perhaps ? I like the "classic" look of the game. If it was a game in an arcade - I would definitely play it.
At the time i built this i used to have some of my games out in shops/pubs making extra money, and i considered putting this one out on location to see if it would make any money, as it has working and fully adjustable coin mechs.
Never actually got around to it though, got sick of seeing my other games being abused, pulling crap outta the coin mechs ( i was always amazed at some of the things id find jammed in there ^.^)so i brought them home and restored them.
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Thankyou to each and every one of you for the incredible responses so far… much appreciated.
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Drool!!!! $%$
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Gobbsmacked... #*#
That is simply incredible. It would be a very difficult challenge to start from scratch, and have a finished product with the quality of your machine.
It is great to have such talent as yourself and Nuggy on this site sharing your efforts.. You should be very pleased with your achievements and you deserve all the accolades that you will get in Micheal Shaloub's book.
$%$
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I am SO glad you used all CMOS logic, I thought you were going to get really complicated when you posted this.
Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!
Thank you so much for posting your pinball - it looks the absolute DUCKS NUTS! No surprise Michael wants it in the next book - its worthy of many accolades...plus its fixable.
Fantastic stuff - if ever you decide to do another - id love to be part of the project, wold be an absolute pleasure.
$%$ $%$ $%$
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I am SO glad you used all CMOS logic, I thought you were going to get really complicated when you posted this.
Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!
Thank you so much for posting your pinball - it looks the absolute DUCKS NUTS! No surprise Michael wants it in the next book - its worthy of many accolades...plus its fixable.
Fantastic stuff - if ever you decide to do another - id love to be part of the project, wold be an absolute pleasure.
$%$ $%$ $%$
It has actually been on my mind lately to build another, so you never know, i might just take you up on that offer *%* thinkin id like to do one with multiball and speech etc one day. i've got a few ideas already.
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Well done on all accounts.
I had to smile when i read you used simple cmos chips (and a lot of them), as i went down that avenue 15-20yrs ago too, although i never got the pin playfield built up and the whole thing fell to the wayside with other interests lurking.
I'm currently in the process of building some custom pins myself (again, after almost 20 yrs), and luckily things will be a LOT easier these days with the simple addition of Pic/picaxe cpu's and readily available parts, and easily
maintainable with modern chips, nothing obsolete. *)* :lol
I'll definatley be using speech/mp3 chips for the Speech/FX & music plus DM Displays to keep them modern looking &&
Well done, again !!
MM.
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Thanks Marty ^^^. I'd often wondered if anyone else besides me had ever attempted building their own pinball game... especially using CMOS logic! And definitely no obsolete parts in mine.. as yet anyway :lol
I'd also wondered about using picaxe microcontrollers in home made pins. I'd sure like to learn to use them. Make sure you post YOUR efforts on here as well as id definitely love to see what you come up with.
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Yep, there's always someone lurking around that has (or will) build their own pinball machine(s).
The best bit, is that there's no rules to follow, the parts, gameplay and challenges are only limited by the person building the game, so you can't go wrong. :lol
I've used pics/picaxes for ages now, and they're VERY easy to play with, especially using the "basic" language instead of anything advanced such as 'C' or 'assembler' (who can afford the time?).
In the past few years, i've dabbled more with Altera/Xilinx FPGA chips, which is like having a whole library of TTL/cmos chips all inside the one device, and you internally map out a schematic and assign it to the device pins (anywhere from 80 to 400 I/O pins).
When you play with these devices, you'll then see that ttl/cmos is obsolete hahahahahaaha.
I'm hoping to get more info together, and perhaps create another forum on here to share the lessons for anyone wanting to learn about it all, anything to help pinheads get there projects together #*#.
MM.
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LOL!!! Im loving this!!!!
I talk to my dad who wants a juke to fix up that is valve driven cos he loves them and keeps valve logic alive ( has a huge stash of radios) - me?? im strictly TTL and self taught pretty much... a package that can contain up to 400 TTL logic sequences??? Oh, im interested!
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Actually the Altera packages i use has between 500 to 10,000 gates inside them, the possibilities are endless and the libraries contain both TTL & Cmos chips, plus standard logic symbols and your own custom chips too, so you can mix'n'match within your design until you're happy it works on-screen.
Once that all works on the screen, you then pick which signals you need to come out to the external world, and assign them to physical pins on the main (Altera, Xilinx etc) chip, and there it is, 1 chip that replaces 100's in your old 80's designs :lol
The pinball board i'm designing at the moment has 1 (pic) processor and 1 (Altera) chip and that's all.
Can you imagine a pin mpu board being 2x2 inches in size? hahahaha.
MM.
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Well done looks good, just go to shows that you that at least you no what you doing.f**k i have trouble just doing a flipper overhaul with out causing a drama.
Craig
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The more you post the more I am amazed! Simply outstanding!
Why don't you make you next game an E/M :D
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The more you post the more I am amazed! Simply outstanding!
Why don't you make you next game an E/M :D
Do you mean build one??? it's not outta the question actually, as i have an old Wms Superstar in bits n pieces (minus a backglass) so you never know!
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I gotta say I have been lucky enough to see and play this great game and it plays well. Like everyone else I was blown away at his achievement and super high skill level to build this work of art. Any of you guys who can do this or understand how it works, bloody amazes me. I would love to take Mitch and Vortex to the expo but he is working that weekend. We must get this machine to the next expo. I tell you, it will have the most people gathered around it, checking it out! WOW, man you are one skilled ,gifted dude! @@* @@*
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STUNNED absolutely stunned i didnt get time to read the whole thing but i will dont you worry the playfield looked good enough but you made your own boards. And here i am cant even get one board fixed your a bloody ^^^ ledgend
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Thanx guys you're too kind!! :lol
And Cam, was great to let you have a few games on this machine last sunday.. its always interesting and good to hear what other pinny enthusiasts have to say about this game. and your comment about getting this game to the next expo was really cool too ^^^ ^^^ . having said that, i must say that (in my mind), i honestly dont think its really good enough to take to any expo!! But thanks for your great comments anyway.
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I'm gobsmacked $$( $$(
you're a man of many skills - well done #*# #*# #*#
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Well ive just had time to read the whole thread and the more i read the more impressed i was. Fantastic work from every aspect of the machine
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That is just amazing!
You should upload your pics and info to the IPDB.
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Job well done and can only get even better.
When's the production run going to start?
Dibs on number 2 &&
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wow what a great look machine
well done