The Simpsons

Partial

Data East1990DATAEASTdata-east.the-simpsons.1990

OPDB IPDB data-east/the-simpsons-1990.mddata-east/the-simpsons-1990.json

Wire it up

what an authoring tool needs first
Bind this ROM
simp_a27

2 ROM sets resolve to this machine. Clones share the definition unless a hardware difference is listed.

Controller platform
pinmame.dataeast

PinMAME already reports logical active state. Do not invert again in the table — normally-closed is a physical fact recorded per switch, not a runtime transform.

Displays

No display inventory recorded yet.

Address space
Switches
14–51 (22)
Solenoids
11–30 (4)
Lamps
1–64 (43)

Coverage

Partial

Real evidence exists, but authoring requirements are still missing or in conflict. Verify before shipping a table.

Completion19%

Progress is derived from the fixed author-readiness requirements. It helps rank unfinished work, but only a 100% author-ready definition passes the publication gate.

Catalog Identity
validated
Address Enumeration
unknown
Semantic Naming
unknown
Physical Wiring
unknown
Mechanisms
unknown
Variant Coverage
candidate
Recreation Knowledge
unknown
Still missing · 13
Driver MappingInput EnumerationInput SemanticsOutput EnumerationOutput SemanticsDisplay InventoryMechanism InventoryMechanism BehaviorPolarityVariant DifferencesRecreation NotesProvenanceSpatial Placement

Switches

The addresses PinMAME reports as closed. Numbers are the public API values, not matrix hardware pins.

22 addresses

Switch map

Sequential addresses, grouped in columns of eight.

used unused
 
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
1–8
9–16
17–24
25–32
33–40
41–48
49–56
Hover or tap an address to identify it.
22 shown
# Name Device ID Evidence
14
W14
switch.w14 candidate
17
W17
switch.w17 candidate
18
W18
switch.w18 candidate
19
W19
switch.w19 candidate
20
W20
switch.w20 candidate
21
Left Sling Shot
switch.left-sling-shot candidate
22
Right Sling Shot
switch.right-sling-shot candidate
25
Sw25
switch.sw25 candidate
26
Sw26
switch.sw26 candidate
27
Sw27
switch.sw27 candidate
29
Sw29
switch.sw29 candidate
30
W30
switch.w30 candidate
36
Sw36
switch.sw36 candidate
37
Sw37
switch.sw37 candidate
38
Sw38
switch.sw38 candidate
39
Sw39
switch.sw39 candidate
46
Bumper1
switch.bumper1 candidate
47
Bumper2
switch.bumper2 candidate
48
Bumper3
switch.bumper3 candidate
49
W49
switch.w49 candidate
50
W50
switch.w50 candidate
51
W51
switch.w51 candidate

Controlled devices

Everything the ROM can energise, grouped the way a table author builds it.

Coils, magnets & motors

4
4 shown
# Name Device ID Evidence
11
PFGI
coil.pfgi candidate
16
Kicksaver
coil.kicksaver candidate
28
Sw29 Pop
coil.sw29-pop candidate
30
Sw37 Pop
coil.sw37-pop candidate

Lamps

43

Lamp map

Sequential addresses, grouped in columns of eight.

used unused
 
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
1–8
9–16
17–24
25–32
33–40
41–48
49–56
57–64
Hover or tap an address to identify it.
43 shown
# Name Device ID Evidence
1
L1a
lamp.l1a candidate
2
L2a
lamp.l2a candidate
3
L3a
lamp.l3a candidate
10
L10
lamp.l10 candidate
11
L11
lamp.l11 candidate
13
L13
lamp.l13 candidate
14
L14
lamp.l14 candidate
15
L15
lamp.l15 candidate
16
L16
lamp.l16 candidate
25
L25
lamp.l25 candidate
26
L26
lamp.l26 candidate
27
L27
lamp.l27 candidate
28
L28
lamp.l28 candidate
29
L29
lamp.l29 candidate
30
L30
lamp.l30 candidate
31
L31
lamp.l31 candidate
32
L32
lamp.l32 candidate
33
L33
lamp.l33 candidate
34
L34
lamp.l34 candidate
35
L35
lamp.l35 candidate
36
L36
lamp.l36 candidate
37
L37
lamp.l37 candidate
38
L38
lamp.l38 candidate
39
L39
lamp.l39 candidate
40
L40
lamp.l40 candidate
41
L41
lamp.l41 candidate
42
L42
lamp.l42 candidate
43
L43
lamp.l43 candidate
44
L44
lamp.l44 candidate
49
F49
lamp.f49 candidate
50
L50
lamp.l50 candidate
51
F51
lamp.f51 candidate
52
L52
lamp.l52 candidate
55
L55
lamp.l55 candidate
56
L56
lamp.l56 candidate
57
L57
lamp.l57 candidate
58
L58
lamp.l58 candidate
59
L59
lamp.l59 candidate
60
L60
lamp.l60 candidate
61
L61
lamp.l61 candidate
62
L62
lamp.l62 candidate
63
L63
lamp.l63 candidate
64
L64
lamp.l64 candidate

Recreation notes

Working knowledge that has no schema field yet — edition differences, tuning values, pitfalls.

Coverage: partial - machine identity plus candidate-only I/O attachments. Playfield devices, wiring, mechanisms, and behavior are evidenced only as unverified candidates.

This record was promoted from the generated catalog stub stub.pinmame.simp_a27 by the catalog-wide identity pass of 2026-08-29. The promotion resolves machine identity and carries the catalog's residual driver grouping over unchanged, the platform and device attachments below were added by the 2026-08-29/30 candidate passes and assert nothing beyond candidate provenance. Every requirement in the definition's coverage.missing is genuinely outstanding.

Identity

  • PinMAME catalog: root driver simp_a27, description "Simpsons, The (2.7)", manufacturer "Data East", catalog year "1990".
  • OPDB record G5VBJ-MLy4l (IPDB 2158) names this machine "The Simpsons" (Data East, manufacture date 1990-01-01); the resolved identity rests on the agreement of the PinMAME catalog and this reviewed mapping.
  • The definition's driver list is exactly the clone tree PinMAME declares under simp_a27; whether every listed driver really runs on this physical machine is unverified.

Drivers this record holds

  • simp_a20 (1990, Data East, clone of simp_a27).
  • simp_a27 (1990, Data East).

PinMAME source contract (candidate)

  • The pinned PinMAME source declares simp_a27 at src/wpc/degames.c:396 with machine module de_mDEAS1; the definition declares controller platform pinmame.dataeast from it.

VPX script candidates (candidate)

  • 1 retained community table script(s) declare this machine's driver; their extracted switch/lamp/solenoid/GI candidates are carried as 69 candidate devices. When curator work weighs sources, a retained script outranks emulator-derived candidates for runtime semantics, but every device here is still a candidate until a known-working table is verified against this exact physical machine.

What a curator must establish next

Full input, output, and display enumeration with semantic names; physical wiring and polarity; mechanism inventory and behavior; variant differences across the clone tree; recreation knowledge from a manual, schematic, or known-working table; runtime provenance; and a normalized spatial placement for every physical device. No manual, schematic, or runtime-harness evidence is retained for this machine yet; the candidate sections above are the only retained I/O evidence so far.

ROM sets

Every driver that resolves to this physical machine.

ROM set Description Year Parent Hardware
simp_a27Simpsons, The (2.7) 1990——
simp_a20Simpsons, The (2.0) 1990simp_a27—

Parent set: simp_a27 — clones share this definition unless a hardware difference is noted.

Pinball memory maps

External source LGPL-3.0-only1 map

RAM layouts published by an independent project and mirrored here at a pinned commit. They are not part of this machine’s definition: nothing below was used as evidence for the definition, and none of it counts towards coverage. Check claims against the upstream project.

Upstream
tomlogic/pinball-memory-maps
Commit
d8693b9

This program makes use of content from the Pinball Memory Maps project.

simp_a27.map.json

dataeastv6format 0.8

maps/dataeast/version3/simp_a27.map.json

Applies to ROMs
simp_a20simp_a27
Sections
game_statehigh_scores
Map JSONMap sourcePlatform JSONPlatform source

dataeast defines the RAM layout this map’s offsets are read against — the map is not interpretable without it.

Evidence

Every claim above traces to one of these. When they disagree: a known-working VPX script wins on controller addresses and causality, the manual wins on wiring and construction, pinned PinMAME wins on emulator routing and display layout.

  • PinMAME catalog

    BSD-3-Clause

    pinmame.catalog.8371478a7640

    PinmameGetGames

    8371478a7640
    by
    PinMAME contributors
    rev
    8371478a7640

  • PinMAME source

    BSD-3-Clause

    pinmame.core.8371478a7640

    src/wpc/degames.c:396 (machine module de_mDEAS1)

    src/wpc/degames.c
    by
    PinMAME contributors
    rev
    8371478a7640

  • VPX script

    vpx-script.b9657eebffc2dcd6

    vpx-standalone-scripts: Simpsons (Data East 1990)_Bigus(MOD)3.1/Simpsons (Data East 1990)_Bigus(MOD)3.1.vbs

    15d112648a1b
    by
    Authors credited in Simpsons (Data East 1990)_Bigus(MOD)3.1/Simpsons (Data East 1990)_Bigus(MOD)3.1.vbs and repository contributors
    rev
    15d112648a1b
    sha256
    b9657eebffc2…

Something wrong or missing?

This definition still has 13 unmet requirements, listed under Coverage above. Fixes belong in the definition itself — editing on GitHub forks it for you and opens the pull request.

Cite a source for anything you change — a manual page, a line in a working VPX script, PinMAME source, or a reading from the machine's own service menu. Claims without provenance cannot be validated.

Edit the definition Edit the note Report a problem
Before you startCONTRIBUTING.mdschemas/machine.schema.jsondocs/MACHINE_DEFINITIONS_PLAN.md How to read a definition

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