Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Show off your completed Game Boy Zero, or post your build logs here!
Post Reply
User avatar
WoodMill
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:57 am
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Has thanked: 21 times
Been thanked: 29 times

Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by WoodMill » Sun Nov 13, 2016 5:33 pm

Just spent the weekend working on my Version 2 Gameboy Zero. Got all the parts except for Day's Gorilla Screen, so I started building

Nothing too fancy, but I did do a few things different than normal, or what I've seen others do. So I figured I'd pass along my build

I was able to get a large speaker in the case with Helders AIO. It takes some finesse, and a lot of shaving of the speaker, but it will fit.

I also ran a few wires underneath the AIO to conceal them. I drilled out a notch between the power strip to run the cables to it.

I used a 2mm Fiber Optic strand to better see my charging light. I hot glued one end to the Charging light, and drilled a hole in the side of the case. I flush-cut the fiber optic with the case, and hot glued it from the inside. The charging light was the most important to me, to know when the battery is full. But you can also see other colored lights through it, just not as well. I should have gone with the 1mm strand. I didn't have a drill bit that was the exact size of this one.

Added a second USB port in the contract area. Just takes a tiny bit of cutting, but fits much better than the Ext port.

L+R Buttons are large shallow tactile buttons. Turns out they mount FLUSH with the battery case. In my measurements, I thought they would protrude just a fraction of a mm, but didn't account for it's own way they sealed up the case. The 4 tiny dots in the corners. It's really hard to find these buttons, so I may scuff them up or try to do something minimal to them to give them texture. But since games rarely use them, I'm not too worried.

But this thing feels nice and sturdy. I think the extra weight of the speaker really helps in that feeling. I also used a Sharpie to mark all the screw mount holes for the AIO. Was much quicker in my testing of fit when I did that. Oh, and I built this from start to finish without testing anything along the way because I'm gangster like that. LOL. I did test the screen first. And I did test everything along the way with my first build. But this one, I just got lazy. All it was.
2016-11-12-14.59.jpg
The mark in green shows where I put the notch to allow for the cables to pass from under the AIO.
2016-11-12-14.59.jpg (379.67 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-12-15.42.jpg
Shows just a single set of cables where I routed them.
2016-11-12-15.42.jpg (529.39 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-12-19.17.jpg
Progress
2016-11-12-19.17.jpg (247.61 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-13-12.16.jpg
Finished, minus the fiber cable.
2016-11-13-12.16.jpg (391.17 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-13-18.36.jpg
Flush mounted L+R Buttons
2016-11-13-18.36.jpg (602.23 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-13-18.37.jpg
Fiber Optic
2016-11-13-18.37.jpg (320.87 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-13-19.02.jpg
Fiber Optic while charging
2016-11-13-19.02.jpg (134.34 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
2016-11-13-19.03.jpg
Complete
2016-11-13-19.03.jpg (341 KiB) Viewed 7711 times
Follow my Youtube Vlog about Filmmaking
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... P0H6UZe1ds

User avatar
arunBarnard
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:11 am
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by arunBarnard » Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:35 am

Very nice indeed! I have just finished my first build, but only using a common ground PCB. Hope to get an AIO soon!

User avatar
LSThomas
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 3:14 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by LSThomas » Thu Nov 17, 2016 2:25 am

Nice build! Those L + R's are looking sleek on the battery cover.

User avatar
Billy Blaze
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 1:27 pm
Location: Gnosticus IV
Has thanked: 68 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by Billy Blaze » Thu Nov 24, 2016 4:54 am

nice build!
I especially like your L+R Buttons solution. Looks really sleek!
By the way where did you buy these large shallow tactile L+R Buttons?
Please could you post a link to the product page of where you got it from?

User avatar
WoodMill
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:57 am
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Has thanked: 21 times
Been thanked: 29 times

Re: Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by WoodMill » Thu Nov 24, 2016 9:39 pm

Billy Blaze wrote:nice build!

Please could you post a link to the product page of where you got it from?
I am pretty sure these are the ones. Came in another bundle I got from Adafruit
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1119
Follow my Youtube Vlog about Filmmaking
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... P0H6UZe1ds

User avatar
Billy Blaze
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 1:27 pm
Location: Gnosticus IV
Has thanked: 68 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by Billy Blaze » Fri Nov 25, 2016 12:32 am

WoodMill wrote:I am pretty sure these are the ones. Came in another bundle I got from Adafruit
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1119
ah, thanx! I think I just ordered some quite similar ones.
besides the design, are they easy to push? I mean, they line up with the surface which looks beautiful, but I'm worried that this could be tricky when it comes to handling them in action. so can you please share your experience when it comes to everyday usage...

User avatar
WoodMill
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:57 am
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Has thanked: 21 times
Been thanked: 29 times

Re: Woodmill's Run-of-the-Mill GBZ

Post by WoodMill » Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:36 am

Billy Blaze wrote:
WoodMill wrote:I am pretty sure these are the ones. Came in another bundle I got from Adafruit
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1119
ah, thanx! I think I just ordered some quite similar ones.
besides the design, are they easy to push? I mean, they line up with the surface which looks beautiful, but I'm worried that this could be tricky when it comes to handling them in action. so can you please share your experience when it comes to everyday usage...
They're hard to find. I haven't really played any games that use them, so I can't say how easy they are to use when needed. But since the games I'm currently playing don't use them, I have to feel for them when I do need them, and its not really quick. One thing I was thinking about was punching out a small disc with a hole punch on some fine-grit sandpaper and glueing it on. That would make them much easier to find.

You'll have to experiment with placement of them. For me, I'd probably move them down an inch and use them with my middle fingers instead of my index fingers. The current button placement seem to fall between those two fingers for it to be comfortable to use them with games.
Follow my Youtube Vlog about Filmmaking
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... P0H6UZe1ds

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 1 guest