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New members - say hello right here : )

I hope to put in some league appearances at some stage.
I played in an NZ League in Auckland and it was great - I actually have an IFPA ranking still.....but it is by no way an indicator of my ability as it flatters me MASSIVELY :rofl:
Hi Andy,
Welcome aboard.
Glad to hear the NZ pinball scene is alive and well. I am originally from Perth and the tournament scene over there is pretty much non existent.
Machines to find on location are mostly at Timezones (family arcade mostly filled with redemption games). Most of the time the games are dirty and not well maintained :tut:.
You can pick yourself up a MAME cabinet or pinball machine over here for a reasonable cost. Plenty of info and help on his forum when or if the time is ready.
Will be good to see another member on the tournament scene.
Cheers Chris
 
No problem.

Not quite finished as the buttons can be lit - haven't wired that in yet.

For software I used the MALA front end, it works well and I could make up my own graphic.

Buttons and a usb interface from Ultra Cabs. I also put in a tracker ball (for Missile Command).

The marquee is a piece of perspex from ebay and some vinyl lettering from a specialist company.

A couple of sheets of MDF and some low voltage lighting strips from B&Q did the cab.

The chrome trim wasn't cheap but does finish it off nicely.

John
Hi john

Sweet looking machine you got there. This is not the place for me Tomas questions about it I know but could you post a message about what pc, monitor, controls and speakers u used? Would also love to see it running - perhaps a YouTube video!

U should consider adding the CAVE shoot em ups to it like "progear". They are really good games to play
 
Hi John - Yep, TPA helps me scratch that itch for sure.
I've been in to it since launch as my PC with VP gave up the ghost and I didn't have anything that'd run it - plus it's not the most forgiving of programs LOL.

Coincidentally, it was Kevlar from: http://pinballarcadefans.com/forum.php (also on here) that recommneded I join here :)
I'll check out 'Other Games General Discussion' for the comps - Sounds good!

As for your MAME creation - I'd love to see it :)

Andy
Hi Andy

Definitely recommend you join our little TPA league! Nothing to serious, we just a pick a table of the week and try to post our best score.

Nice to see you on here. Everyone is friendly and you will learn so much just reading through all the posts

All the best

Chris
 
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Hi john

Sweet looking machine you got there. This is not the place for me Tomas questions about it I know but could you post a message about what pc, monitor, controls and speakers u used? Would also love to see it running - perhaps a YouTube video!

Thank you for that.

I'll work something up, how I did it, including costs, and post in the Other Games forum and yes, I'm proud to own up that it does look good - but only from the front! It's a shambles from the rear, since that faces the wall I don't care.

For really smart cabs and seriously good advice I scoured loads of dedicated web sites before building mine.

My cab is far from special, it started with me nearly taking my son's old PC to the local tip and then wondering whether I could play Missile Command on it. One thing led to another.

John
 
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farm3.staticflickr.com_2908_14574714224_7c4fc6b2a3_o.jpg

No problem.

Not quite finished as the buttons can be lit - haven't wired that in yet.

For software I used the MALA front end, it works well and I could make up my own graphic.

Buttons and a usb interface from Ultra Cabs. I also put in a tracker ball (for Missile Command).

The marquee is a piece of perspex from ebay and some vinyl lettering from a specialist company.

A couple of sheets of MDF and some low voltage lighting strips from B&Q did the cab.

The chrome trim wasn't cheap but does finish it off nicely.

John

Nice one John :)

I LIKE it :D

Heard Mala is OK. Is it free?

You're so right about the Chrome T-molding....Nice Touch - as is the Underlighting!

Really like how you've gone for a minimalist base, sans any coindoor/box. How stable is it?
I'd HAVE to have Robotron in a cab....and that gets pretty physical :O LOL

Andy
 
Hi Andy

Definitely recommend you join our little TPA league! Nothing to serious, we just a pick a table of the week and try to post our best score.

Nice to see you on here. Everyone is friendly and you will learn so much just reading through all the posts

All the best

Chris

Hi Chris-Looks like it's PC build/Steam TPA only. Is that right? I'm an iPad player only :(
Andy
 
L
Thank you for that.

I'll work something up, how I did it, including costs, and post in the Other Games forum and yes, I'm proud to own up that it does look good - but only from the front! It's a shambles from the rear, since that faces the wall I don't care.

For really smart cabs and seriously good advice I scoured loads of dedicated web sites before building mine.

My cab is far from special, it started with me nearly taking my son's old PC to the local tip and then wondering whether I could play Missile Command on it. One thing led to another.

John

Love the 'mess at the back' honesty :D

I'd love to know more too-Will look goe a post-and maybe that YT vid ;)
 
Hello to you,

I'm Julian Hepworth.
It started in 1992 at the top of Tottenham Court road in a pub called the Goat in Boots. I'd just started working at Logica and a group of us had organised to go for lunch, but only me and the Sales guy had made it out on time, and so were killing time. "Ever play these ?" he said , pointing at a Fish Tales. "No, don't really interest me" I said as he dropped £1 into it. Wham ! hooked from then on and, wow , all the pubs seemed to have pin tables, changing all the time. Then I started going to Scarborough and Brighton with couple of mates to play more, then I bought a Coinslot in a newsagent , and the inevitable "how much do these cost". Got a WW and TZ in 1994 in the office - maxed out on space. Move house in 2002 , discover Ebay add a FT and a RS - daughter born, she needs the playroom - bought a log cabin - filled it - moved house, got a bigger cabin on it goes.....

2 recent highlights :

9 year old son's birthday with tree climbing, football, and a trip to the cabin - they were blown away, couldn't get them out of it- they literally dragged their parents into it at pickup time.

IMG_3016.JPG

11 year old daughters school leavers party - marquee + games marquee with table football, WOZ and SW. Girls drawn to WOZ like moths to a flame - on 2 occasions they hunted me down to sort out a stuck ball - well done Jack :)


IMG_1605.JPG

Julian 45 - married - 1 daughter, 1 son both the best pinball players in their year :)
 
Welcome to the forum Julian, some great games you've got there, and two lucky kids!
 
Hi Julian

Welcome to Pinball Info - we've shared an employer - Logica 1985 - 1993 for me, and where I also met my wife who's just bought me a pinball as my 50th birthday present.

In 1992 I was about 2.5 years into a 3 month secondment in Solihull working on the IT systems for the newly privatised Powergen, before we 'retired' to Devon in 1994.

A great time to be playing pinball in pubs!
 
Welcome Julian. Is that your line-up of pins in the top photo? Looks like a Monster Bash, Medieval Madness a Cirqus Voltaire AND a Catus Canyon?

That's one hell of a great selection :-D
 
Well this is a first for me actually accepting I'm a pinball geek ! Blame it mostly on my Dad, "apple never falls far from the tree"
Growing up I realised that tinkering was good for the soul and after helping my Dad resurrect some old EM's ( I can still smell that aroma when first lifting a play field for a poke around )
I now realised that at the time I was being pulled towards those shiny arcade games and life got in the way - but fond memories.

....until recently and an approaching 40th birthday gave me an opportunity to purchase (with the wife's blessing !) one machine.I purchased a goldeneye and it sits very nicely in the hallway to greet everyone. We'll it started at one pinball. I have another project machine (BR) that needs a right good clean and strip down which is living at a friends house for now.

I'm hooked again. Attending Nerg last week I was greeted by some very enthusiastic NLP Members who got me on this site so big thanks to them.

Looking forward to play expo and see where the hobby takes me.

Simon
 
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Hi All,

Ade here, and I've been a pinball addict ever since playing 'Psycho Pinball' on the Sega Megadrive many moons ago. For a long time all I could afford was digital pinball. I must have played 'TimeShock' (best digital pin ever made!) a brazillion times on my trusty Dreamcast (anyone ever see the 'Midnight Madness' mode? crazy stuff!)

A couple of years back I got made redundant from BigBig Studios (games developer for the Sony PSP/ PSP VITA), and with the payout I received I managed to invest in my first *real* pin, a Stern LOTR. Being a bit of a Tolkien nut an a pinhead, it was a perfect fit for me. Initially, I was a bit intimidated by owning a pin, especially when it came to repairs/ servicing, but after watching YouTube vids on how to solder and how to use a multimeter I soon became more confident in my skills. I spent a good few months getting my LOTR into shape, stripping down and cleaning the playfield, installing new coils, plunger, rubbers, cliffy protectors, figures and updating the game and display ROMs. I even managed to source a complete set of 'thin' playfield plastics and replaced the main driver board. I can't believe the amount of info that is contained in those Stern manuals! You could virtually build a pin from scratch, they are so detailed!

I would love to own more pins, but unfortunately I only have the cash/ space for 'The One' pin, but boy, whatta pin! ("Double jackpot FIVE!")

I now live in Bristol and can often be seen bimbling around the streets in my trusty 'Stern' t-shirt (I even bumped into a fellow pinhead a couple of weeks back who recognised my shirt - apols, I can't remember your name!)

Looking forward to chatting with y'all on the boards :)
 
Ade, I don't suppose you worked on Pursuit Force at Bigbig? Fun game! I used to work in Community Management for EA, DICE, Ubisoft... (I've since sold out and joined a tech company instead. :))

LOTR is a great pin and always in demand, easily in the top ranks of Stern pins IMO (and TBH there really aren't many Stern pins that I love!) Welcome to the community!
 
Ade, I don't suppose you worked on Pursuit Force at Bigbig? Fun game! I used to work in Community Management for EA, DICE, Ubisoft... (I've since sold out and joined a tech company instead. :))

LOTR is a great pin and always in demand, easily in the top ranks of Stern pins IMO (and TBH there really aren't many Stern pins that I love!) Welcome to the community!

Alas. PF was*just* before my time. I worked on 'MotorStorm - Arctic Edge' (PSP) and 'Little Deviants' (PSP VITA). Before that I also worked on 'BBoy' (PSP, FreeStyle Games), as well as just about every title Codemasters put out between 1997-2000. I spent 2.5 years testing 'Prince Naseem Boxing' whilst there (ugh!), as well as 'Brian Lara Cricket', 'Severance', 'Colin Mcrae Rally 2.0' and '1Nsane Off-road'

Thanks for the welcome :)
 
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