DIY Video Game Cyclotron Lights

Equipment Tutorials & Guides
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So you’ve played the video game, and you’re ready to update your proton pack with a slime tank, stasis wings, new lights, the whole shebang.

But remember that when switching modes in the game the cyclotron lights change color, right? I’ve been trying to figure out a mechanical solution for this. I.E. - rotating lenses or something similar. It occured to me the other day that an electric solution would be a lot easier to accomplish.

So using my very rudamentary knowledge of electronics and some pretty sloppy soldering skills, I came up with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDHA8N9eYvQ

This video is just a teaser - my tester with only one green LED installed. I will post another video when I have all four green lights installed. As well as my wiring diagram.

Disclaimer: I am using an Exoray light kit. But I’m certain the principle can be used with others (Proptronix, R2Devo, Hyperdyne, etc.). Be warned though: This is a Do It Yourself tutorial. And this is not endorsed by any of the above light kit makers. If you screw something up, they might not be willing to help you fix it. Do not attempt this unless you have experience with soldering and electronics.

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**Disclaimer: I am using an Exoray light kit. But I’m certain the principle can be used with others (Proptronix, R2Devo, Hyperdyne, etc.). Be warned though: This is a Do It Yourself tutorial. And this is not endorsed by any of the above light kit makers. If you screw something up, they might not be willing to help you fix it. Do not attempt this unless you have experience with soldering and electronics. **

Alright, folks. Here’s an update on my lights mod. This video shows all four lights in action when you switch modes from proton pack to slime blower. I still haven’t put these back in my pack yet. That will likely happen tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjEvsMoWaCA

What you’ll need:

Everything I used to make this modification came from my local electronics surplus store. I’ll list the price I paid. Your millage may vary.

-**4x Super Bright green LEDs. ** ~ ($1.25 for a 5-pack) - These need to be superbright otherwise they’ll burn out if you don’t change the resistors on the light kit board.

-1x 4PDT on(on) toggle switch ~ ($2.00) - If you want to add the other modes (stasis, etc.) then you’ll need another kind of switch. I thought about a rotary, but the red/green switch is as far as I’m taking it personally.

-Extra wire ~ ($0.50) - I got the extra wire I needed from a surplus bin of misc. junk.

-Wire cutter, and wire splitter

-Soldering iron, solder, skills

-Electrical tape or heat shrink tubing

-Your wits about you

Here is the wiring diagram I came up with:

image

I showed this to Exoray and he said it would work if everything was wired properly. Made me feel all warm and squishy. :slight_smile: (Remember though: this DIY modification is not endorsed by any of the kit makers. Just because Flynn said it would work doesn’t mean he approves of it!)

Basically, just follow that diagram and if you’ve wired everything properly, it should work just like mine. Just remember that on an LED the anode (positive) is usually the longer wire and the cathode (negative) is the short one.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them. I’m not sure how much more I can help, but I’ll be happy to try. Also this is DIY. I’m not selling kits, nor will I make these for you. Also remember to do this at your own risk. If you mess something up, the maker of your kit is not guaranteed to help you. Modifying their handy work is likely to void any warranty they may honor. Just be careful!

Cheers,

Patrick

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That’s pretty cool man, Nice Diagram!

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Thanks, Andy. I actually noticed AFTER posting this that the green cyclotron lights are static when in slime blower mode. xD

But you know what? I’m still very happy with what I’ve accomplished. :slight_smile:

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Not a bad bit of electron wrangling. If you want to make it really slick use Red/Green/Blue leds, they can put out any color from one LED depending on what input you give it. Some Red/Green only LEDs are just 3-post leds that take the same voltage for either color, just change the pins. The RGB ones usually require different voltage levels depending on what color you want.

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The ingenuity of this community never ceases to amaze.

Awesome work, Johnson… great bit of customization for the Pack lights.

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Aha! I’ll look into that. I’m debating on whether my Mark II pack show be a movie pack or video game pack. If I decide on the later, I’ll try for the multi-colored LEDs

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Woohoo! I’m “ingenious”! Thanks, guys. :slight_smile:

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You could also do this by using a SPDT switch. The idea would be each set of color LEDs share a common ground. So all the reds share one ground and all the greens share another ground. You wire each of these grounds to the outer pins on the SPDT switch, then have the center pin be the ground for the circuit.

This way, only one group of LEDs will be grounded at a time and you can switch between them with the switch. Less soldering and you could consolidate resistors as well. Just an idea. Not saying you have to change it or anything, since you have already put all this work into the mod already. Just food for thought.

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We live to learn. :slight_smile: Yeah, like I said, this is something that just popped into my head the other day, and I’ve got next to no electronics experience. Thanks for the tip though. I’ll definitely use this if I do another conversion. But yeah, like you said I have everything soldered up to the 4PDT switch already and it’d be a shame to undo it all now.

I do have one question about using the SPDT the way you’re saying. What about the positive leads on the LEDs … for example, would I just splice the positive on a red and a green to the corresponding terminal? I’m trying to visualize this in my head and I’m getting lost. xD

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Yeah, so in the set up you have now, you’d have 2 LEDs wired to the same positive lead. But then only one group of LEDs would be grounded at a time with the set up i mentioned earlier. This is basically how my LED screen display is set up on the PKE meter I’m currently working on.

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Okay, I get what you’re saying. So using the SPDT would look more like this:

WARNING: This diagram assumes that the negative poles on the original LEDs are just grounds! If this is not the case you might fry your expensive light kit! It’s best to double check with the maker of your specific light kit before implementing this SPDT wiring!

image

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Basically, but I am assuming the negative on that light kit terminal is just the ground. If its true, then it would work. What I said might be better to use on a custom light kit developed from scratch. I wouldn’t want to tell you to do something on an assumption then you fry your expensive lights.

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Noted, and disclaimer added to my previous post! :o

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Well, here is the video of the final product:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOPqvbjPbwg

It’s currently still uploading and processing, but it should become available in just a few minutes! If not, I’ll repost in the morning.

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Looks nice man! Freakin Sweet!

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Looks good! Though the lights in the game go clockwise. :sigh:

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Yeah, I know. I just figured I should have some remnants of movie accuracy with the lights. Also the green lights in the video game are all on the whole time. They don’t blink. Soooo … I took some liberties. :slight_smile:

Anyway it was a bitch to glue in the housing for the lights. There’s no way in HELL I’m redoing it if I don’t absolutely have to! xD Maybe some day I’ll redo them so the greens are static. It would be simple enough I think. I’d just need to have them on a different circuit.

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That, and the Slime Blower lights are stationary green…but still a great looking mod.

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-_- In response to this, I will quote my last post. Directly above yours.

Thanks for the comments. :slight_smile:

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badass!!!