Hi all,
I want to introduce my take on the GameBoy DMG shell, which I have developed with only a few goals on my mind:
- keep as much from the original features/dimensions the same for the compatibility
- make it safely and nicely printable on an FDM printer
- define the final form of the GBZ shell (at least for me)
This project stands on excellent GameBoy Zero CAD from @neolith, and I would like to thank him a lot here because I would not have started without it. I have also contacted him to consult my future steps first.
So here it is, a multicolour FDM printed shell, specially tweaked for Kite's Circuit Sword board, but should be compatible with Helders one too as the internal details should copy the original DMG.
Initially, I thought that I only need to make a few changes on the front surface, and I that's it... After a few first test prints, I immediately realized that I am falling into a deep rabbit hole, but kept going. One by one, I had to tweak probably every surface or feature of the original case, all clearances, and perhaps everything. Once the case was printable, I started incorporating our usual stuff (joysticks, back buttons, big battery), which took me additional months to finish. On top of that, I have added a provision for CS digital volume rocker switch and mainly 3.5" touch screen, which also serves as a beautiful display cover.
Currently, I have two versions available, which I want to offer to a reasonably small number of people at the beginning for sale (thinking about ten max). The first version is with two Nintendo DS joysticks, and the second one is with two PSP joysticks. Both versions have four small back buttons. However, I am thinking about discarding the DS version right at the beginning, as I am not happy with the output. DS sticks require an additional adapter board, which I can provide. But still, there is no enough space in the shell to connect to such small flat cables without significant issues and a big chance of damaging either case or the joystick in case you are not super careful. DS sticks give you an additional fifth and sixth front button, but those are unusable anyway in games as clicking the stick fast is not that easy as clicking the button, and they are hard to connect to the CS board.
I think I am very close to the final solution, which will probably be six buttons plus one PSP joystick on the front side. With the touch screen available, there is no need for the second joystick. Such configuration should give anyone the best compatibility with emulators which could run reasonably well on the Pi, including Nintendo DS, DOS, ScumVM,... and this should fulfil the last goal, at least for me
This pre-order/sale will allow me to try a small "mass production", and hopefully also get me some feedback on what configuration I should keep. It maybe even change my conviction about that six buttons + PSP configuration, but I doubt it
Most importantly, I hope this will be pushing me to work on something sweet and hopefully useful.In the long term, I plan to release the 3D files. Still, for now, I would like to keep them closed and see where this will go.
Please do let me know what you think, how does it feel what do you want differently
