So you want to build a pinball machine? Yay!!¶
This is real pinball. Not digital, not an iPhone app, but rather the big, heavy, mechanical machines with flippers that knock balls around under glass.
See the FAST Pinball main site at www.fastpinball.com for details and photos.
Once you decide you want to "build pinball", there are a few different options you have.
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Build a brand-new machine completely from scratch.
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Find an existing "donor" machine and "re-theme" it.
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Do some modernizations and updates to an existing machine.
New Machine¶
The first option is to completely build a new machine from scratch. Lots of people literally build their cabinets out of wood, design and cut playfields, create art, write their game code, etc. It takes years, but it's awesome.
If you choose to do this, you would use the FAST Pinball Modern Platform as the electronic control system for that machine.
Retheme and Existing Machine¶
Another option that's not as daunting as building a complete machine from scratch is to buy an old existing machine and "re-theme" it into your dream theme. In these cases, people typically take the machine completely apart, clean everything, sand down the cabinet and playfield to bare wood, add their new art, and rebuild everything.
If you have a really old machine with old electronics, people typically use the FAST Pinball Modern Platform for the electronics control of their machine, essentially turning an old machine into a modern one.
Update the Game Play in an Existing Machine¶
If you would like skip all the hardware stuff and simply update the game code for an existing machine, you can use the upcoming FAST Retro Platform to replace the MPU board in an existing Bally/Williams/Midway System 11 or WPC machine. Then you can write your own code, or create new interactive mods, all while still being able to enjoy the original classic game play!
Congrats!¶
We are in the process of publishing several tutorials and step-by-step learning guides which will be located on this documentation site. In fact, this overview guide is one of our tutorals. So congratulations, you just completed your first one!
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