Virtual Pinball cabinet

As a kid I used to play this particular pinball game on the PC, by a Dutch beer brand called Dommelsch. Although I never dived any further into the world of virtual pinball (or played on a real pinball machine for that matter) I can say I was always fascinated by them. So when my husband (boyfriend at the time :)) got to play a real pinball machine at his former employer, and we both got to enjoy the new Pinball Museum in Rotterdam, we started thinking about getting one of our own. In the end we decided to go for the Star Trek premium from Stern.

We absolutely love to play the machine, and we probably won’t swap it for a different one any time soon. But, we also know that there are tons of other machines to play. Especially the 90’s tables are a lot of fun. That’s why we started thinking about our new hobby project: building a virtual pinball cabinet ourselves!

That’s easier said than done, though. When I started reading on the subject I realized that there is a lot to think about. Like, what kind of monitor or TV do I use for a playfield? And do I build a cabinet around this screen, or do I want to make the machine look genuine and search for the right screen to fit in a typical pinball machine’s body? While thinking about that… Do I want to make it a standard sized cabinet or a so-called widebody? And those are only the starting questions for this project. Which buttons do I choose.., what kind of artwork do I want.., what kind of PC do I put in..?

In this blog, I will be documenting the build of our virtual pinball cabinet. I will try to find an answer to the questions mentioned above and other questions. Each step will be documented through photo’s and the most useful pieces of information will get their own page. I have no particular experience in wood working, so everything will be a learning experience. I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences! And maybe this will even be a good resource for your own pinball cabinet project?
 


Complete post history


Orientation

There is a lot to think about if you want to make a virtual pinball cab. There is no such ...

Prepping for building

Cabinet wood In my last post I wrote about all the considerations I have to make before even starting the ...

Making the first cuts!

Now that the MDF is delivered, the next step is to make all the necessary cuts and adjustments before we ...

Building the heart of the VP cab

Inside the cabinet a Windows 10 PC will be installed: this is the heart of the virtual pinball machine. Depending ...

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