Bacteria's portable DreamCast handheld console - IntoDream

[bacteria]

Last update today, more tomorrow no doubt!

Moved battery yet again. Reason being that placement of the controller board was either going to be:

1) Sloping against the two single cells, but making placement of the DC fan difficult and also meaning lots of wires connecting the controller to the other case half where all the buttons, joystick, rumble pack and memory card are to be placed, meaning it would be hard to get all the wires out of the way when closing the case halves, and interrupting air flow due to the amount of such wiring.

2) Mount the controller board on the case top; it can be mounted directly above the joystick, i'll just make a ledge for it to rest on and not interrupt the joystick movements - fortunately, there are corners on the joystick surround, so can make a stilt on each corner and make a shelf, the controller will sit above. To do that, the battery standing up needs to be laying down. Wiring will be neater as there will be far fewer wires between the case halves and the wires can be secured in place in the case top.

I went for option 2, reasons being apparent.

So, in the pics below you see how this will fix together. The green rectangle is where the original DC fan will be situated. Air coming in through the vent holes will be moved one side and downwards over the processor chips, and also dragged on the other side to keep the rest of the system cooler, including the metal strip cooling the chip on the drive board. That's the plan anyway, proof of how effective it is will be when the system is turned on for an hour, if the system is working reliably, and the case isn't warm, success.

The blue rectangles show the position the controller board will be placed.

[Basement_Modder]

Looking good!

Also, you-know-who messed up your account on you-know-where, in addition to a ban, even though you broke no rules. Tragic.

[bacteria]

Yes, indeed.

I have had several PM's/communications since I left there from members from that site, who are now understanding what the issues were I was doing my utmost to rectify, and as a result are leaving/have left/looking to leave that site, which is why it is so quiet there since I left - It is no coincidence that there have been more members joining here recently, to RacketBOY, the site I call "home".

[bacteria]

Been experimenting a bit, didn't have much time today (between night shifts at the moment).

There is space for a full size rumble motor against the screen, joystick and case, barely, but enough. This is a good place for a rumble motor as it is adjacent to the joystick, where my thumb will be mostly.

Remember I got a MadCatz rumble motor and not a regular one? Reason being it emits a red LED as well as the rumble at the same time, designed to do so. As the joystick I am using is clear on the assembly at the back, guess what - if I connect a second red LED and have them at either sides of the clear joystick assembly, then I get a nice red light glow on the top of the case at the joystick recess itself showing nicely on the front of the case. I will post pics when this is done, tomorrow or Monday. Cool! Nice touch, unique. Will probably do this as a part video-update, thinking about it.

As you have gathered, not rushing this project, no timescale to work to, however it is coming along nicely, only have the controller to wire up as the major bit remaining.

[AmishSamurai]

So the joystick will light up like the dude's nose from Operation whenever it rumbles? Awesome.

Despite not knowing what the fuck is actually happening in half of these images, I find the process amazing.

[jfe2]

This entire project is very impressive, and I'm amazed at the fact that you can fit all of that into a portable! The rumble is a nice addition, and the LED on the joystick sounds crazy. I can't wait to see pics of that.

[bacteria]

So the joystick will light up like the dude's nose from Operation whenever it rumbles?

Indeed, didn't think of it like that, but you got the idea!

Despite not knowing what the fuck is actually happening in half of these images, I find the process amazing.

Thanks. If there are things you want to ask to clarify what I am doing, please ask away!


jfe2 - Thanks. I had planned to have the rumble motor horizontal, however after thinking about it, laying it vertical makes more sense, which is what I am doing. It fits in smugly, not even a millimeter clearance. Will hot glue it in place, that works well.

I had planned to have the LED show when the rumble activated, however decided against putting it on the case front, and wondered how else to mount it - lighting through the case itself was an option, and worked well, however illuminating the joystick base itself is soooo much better!

[bacteria]

Going to do some modding work this afternoon, just back after my second night shift, so need some sleep!

Looked into the memory blocks games take on a VMU. A VMU has 200 blocks in it.

Shenmue (80)
Quake 3 (25)
Ecco (24)
Cannon Spike (8)
Cosmic Smash (2)
Ikaruga (34)
Q*Bert (10)
Sonic Adventure (10)
Sonic Adventure 2 (18)
Unreal Tournament (8)

I have most of the above, not all; and some other titles too.

Bottom line is that one VMU seems enough to hold the equivalent of nearly all the above, so enough. This is interesting, so thought I would post it.

Updates later...

[Niode]

Is that including system files? Some games have small 1-8 block system files that holds option/configuration data as well as the main save data.

[bacteria]

I have no idea, I just did a search for how many memory blocks some of the games take.

Perhaps someone with good knowledge on the VMU can answer please?

My portable console will only contain one VMU unit, I have several games so far:

Cosmic Smash
Ecco the Dolphin
PenPen
Q*Bert
Quake 3
Sega Rally Championships
Shenmue
Sonic Adventure
Unreal Tournament
Wacky Races
Worms Armadeddon

With the exception of Shenmue, the others only take a sensible amount of memory blocks, so the plan will be to play Shenmue along with two or three other titles initially (eg Quake 3, PenPen and Cosmic Smash) for my final video on this project, then after getting bored of Shenmue, delete it and make space for a few more games!

Update:

The MadCatz rumble pack, naked:



The idea is to secure the LED above the center of the joystick so the light is uniform, however the LED is tall, so needed to find a small and flat one. In my bit box there are a few such items, including this one - from one of those VR type gadgets that makes it look like you are looking to a 50" television a few feet from you. My unit only cost £3 as it was broken, was pretty useless anyway. Depending on what you connect to where, the LED shows white, green or red illumination - I want red.



A top piece of perspex was cut out to provide a gap between the joystick mechanism and the top, where upon the controller board will be mounted.



Details in this video (as promised): YouTube