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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormchild" data-source="post: 13985" data-attributes="member: 704">This looks like a really cool idea. I just posted a ridiculously long bunch of comments on that page, which I'll paste here for anyone who's interested in this idea.--This is a great idea. However, there are a lot of details that need to be addressed.-- Plunger/launch button --A real plunger would be great, however, not all tables have one. Tables such as Medieval Madness and Monster Bash have a launch button instead; unfortunately that button is also occasionally used during play (e.g. to use troll bombs in MM), and in those situations the plunger would not be a usable replacement for the button.On the other hand, a button *instead* of a plunger would defeat most of the purpose of having a hardware control at all, since the main benefit of a real plunger isn't merely to launch balls, but to have control over how far back you pull it, and make skill shots (most tables have this feature).I think it would have to have both a button *and* a plunger to accomodate all types of tables.One edge case I can think of: Funhouse actually has *two* plungers, but you never need both of them at the same time, so you could just use the same plunger when the ball drops into the left launch lane (aka the stairs).-- Nudging --Nudge buttons would be nice, I guess, but IMO they'd have to be different than the regular flipper buttons. Nudging on a real table isn't an all-or-nothing proposition; there are different degrees of force with which one bumps the sides of the table, depending on how much you need to alter the ball's path, and also how sensitive a given table's tilt sensor is (this is configurable; tables are often set more sensitive for tournament play).So if there are nudge buttons would have to be pressure sensitive, and therefore they'd need some resistance (something you don't want on flipper buttons), or you'll have no ability to control how "hard" you're bumping the table.That said, I don't think any kind of buttons are an ideal solution to this problem. What I'd suggest is Pinball Arcade (and any other pinball apps that intend to support advanced techniques) should have a greater range of sensitivity to the iPad accelerometer, allowing relatively gentle taps to nudge the table just slightly, and harder ones for larger movements. This would eliminate any need for nudge buttons; you could tap the cabinet just like a real one, and leave it up to the iPad accelerometer to detect it.One big benefit of doing it this way (besides reducing the complexity of the cabinet) is that you'd be able to do slap saves, wherein you slap one of the flipper buttons to trigger both the flipper and a nudge at exactly the same time. I think this would be very difficult to do if you had to hit both a flipper button and a pressure-sensitive nudge button at the same time.Then there's the matter of nudging the table *forward*, which Pinball Arcade doesn't support at all, yet, but could definitely be enabled if the iPad was in a cabinet that keeps it relatively stable when you aren't bumping it on purpose. Forward nudges are really critical for saving balls that are bouncing lightly off the post between an inlane and outlane, not to mention saves on center posts (we don't have any of those in Pinball Arcade yet, but it's only a matter of time).-- Built-in charger --Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere already, but I think there either needs to be a built-in dock connector and AC plugin that charges the iPad while it's in the cabinet, or it at least needs to allow enough space to mount it in the cabinet with your own charging cable attached. Keep in mind, these cables are quite short, so you'd pretty much have to have the table right in front of an AC outlet, or it won't reach. Thus I think it's better if the cabinet has its own power cable, and a dock connector.-- DMDs / scoreboard HUD --The idea of having a separate display for the DMD or alphanumeric scoreboard is an interesting one. I can think of a couple different approaches, each with its own pros/cons.Using an iPhone (or Android phone) could definitely work. The question is, how do you mount the phone in a way that keeps it upright and holds it in place when you nudge the cabinet? Can't have it falling onto the iPad while you're playing. Obviously it can't be designed specifically for the iPhone 4/4S, since you wouldn't be able to use any other kind of phone (it's not just Android phones that wouldn't fit, but any newer iPhones that might have a different physical shape, or even a 4/4S that's in a case). And what if you need to answer a call, email, or text message while the phone's in the cabinet?IMO, the phone idea is a little sketchy for all of the above reasons, but if someone can think of an elegant solution to all those potential problems, by all means.The other option is to have a built-in display in the cabinet itself. I think this would significantly increase the cost and complexity of building these things, and also limit the potential market by making them too expensive for a lot of people. Then there's the matter of getting a signal to the display. You could use the dock connector, but it could get tricky to support both video output and charging through a single port.As for the smartphone idea, I think the right way to do that would be to build companion apps that run on iPhone/Android, so you only need to send tiny bits of data and let the phone render the actual video. But even then, there are potential latency problems that would throw off things like timed modes, hurry ups, and so on.Honestly, I think I would just forget about this idea and leave the HUD on the iPad display. There are just too many problems to be solved to get a second display running in sync with the game.-- Final thoughts --If this cabinet idea is done right, it could transform an iPad + Pinball Arcade into a very realistic experience that allows for a much more advanced level of skill. It could (and should) support other pinball apps as well, but since Pinball Arcade is by far the most realistic and demanding pinball sim, any cabinet that clears that high bar ought to be more than adequate for any other company's pinball games.</blockquote>

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