Bacteria's project: "Project Unity"

[bacteria]

Ok, finally spent a couple of hours on the project - for the Amiga CD-32 controller casing. As there's no joysticks or many other button contacts, the controller section won't take long to make - already wired it up and relocated a couple of components like a capacitor to make the board flat enough to fit in the casing. Cut the controller board in two and will need to wire the parts (relocating).

Also need to make two joystick blanks, so when the controller sections are inserted into place, there is a solid surface on the master controller for controllers that don't use joysticks or only use one. The two i'll make will connect via magnets and work for all controllers.

Also going to make a controller section for Intellivision so can show that working on the next video too; 3 controller sections in total in the next video; GameCube to show the joysticks working and the look of that on the master controller, Amiga to show the joystick blanks and how that looks and the differences, and Intellivision as that will show the keypad working to best effect, eg in Tron Deadly Discs.

Plenty of work to get to that stage though.

After that will work on the NeoGeo, after that will start making the skeleton for the project and then will experiment with the systems to see if the connections from the controllers off the consoles will work without diodes or not; i've made sure i'm using a universal connection for ground so as to be standard. If the systems conflict, and diodes don't work, then worst case scenario is a row of VGA type ports to plug into the corresponding connectors from the console controller data lines to the master controller; however this is not what I want to happen and will be last resort; will work but hardly ideal. By the time I get to this stage, i'll have NeoGeo, GameCube, Amiga CD32, Intellivision, SMS, NES all working, so if all works fine with these systems then i'm on the home straight; as per usual, won't know until get to that stage.

[bacteria]

Finished the Amiga CD32 controller section, although not tested it yet to see if it all works fine, nor made the joystick blanks.



Will need to prepare another case set for the Intellivision section too so can then do that too.

Ignore the piece cut off on the right section, that part isn't needed anymore.

[bacteria]

Made the first of the two blank joysticks. Cut out a circular piece of plasticard (styrene) for the back of the joystick area that connects to the controller part, and glued in magnets so they can connect to the back of the controller section, and on the other end, cut out a circular piece for the front of the controller (which needs spray painting as you see in the pic) and a slightly larger piece for behind it so it rests properly inside the master controller.

The idea of this is that all controllers with only one joystick or none at all will have "blanks" showing through in the places where the joysticks would reside. Systems with joysticks need to have them attached to the controller part directly because of line interference and joystick orientation, so the blanks are there instead of a hole. The two joystick blanks will be used for all the other systems.

Here's where it's at at the moment:



...and here is the item - used some 1p coins hot glued together for this, will make this concealed though as will make a tube out of thin card to envelope it, and spray paint the item then.



I must say, given how many things have been hand made for this controller and master controller so far, it all integrates rather nicely and snugly. You'll never get things perfect when hand made, but i'm very happy with the job thus far.

[CRTGAMER]

Amazed by the detail of this. I didn't know you were going to make the Analog sticks a removable option.

[bacteria]

Yup, only the systems using joysticks will have joysticks in the master controller.

Finished the other one, and spray painting - this is a pic before spray painting. Not finished it off to a high standard, basically hot glued some thin card around the coins then wrapped some paper tape around that and glued the ends down, prior to spray painting.



Both bases have a dot to represent their orientation to the top of the controller and the arrow denotes if the joystick blank is for the left or right side.

[CRTGAMER]

Yup, only the systems using joysticks will have joysticks in the master controller.

Finished the other one, and spray painting - this is a pic before spray painting. Not finished it off to a high standard, basically hot glued some thin card around the coins then wrapped some paper tape around that and glued the ends down, prior to spray painting.

Both bases have a dot to represent their orientation to the top of the controller and the arrow denotes if the joystick blank is for the left or right side.

Oh man the fine detail points. Matching the curvature of the controller cap for a smooth fit.

A bug delay mod in your ear. Maybe some kind of keyway or detent unique for each side and position?

Interested in seeing how the analogs electrically connect when slid in place.

[bacteria]

Indeed, both of the joystick blanks look different. The orientation is easy as the dot faces upwards and the left or right arrow show which side it fits into.

There is a bit of tolerance (a few degrees each side) to this so no slot or indent needed, I had thought about that though when making it.

The analogues slot very easily into place, and accurately; i'll show that in detail in the video when it's made.

Finished spray painting the joystick blanks, waiting for it to dry before varnishing.

Spent about 2.5 hours making the casing for the Intellivision controller section, it's ready, and first spray paint coat applied, one more tomorrow; varnish the next day, use following day I expect!

Don't hold me to it as there's a few things to do yet, but ETA for next video is probably only 2-3 weeks away, with a fair wind.

[CRTGAMER]

The analogues slot very easily into place, and accurately; I'll show that in detail in the video when it's made.

Pics too please. I hate slugging through videos when pics and text can be more easily scrutinized.

[bacteria]

I know what you mean, however I tend to keep videos "brief" without too much waffle otherwise they are less interesting to the viewer.

The controller sections for any of the systems i'm making can be slotted ready for use quickly, so will be doing it in the video for each part, although I won't show games booting or interchanging the consoles, just working with the master controller, to save video time.

The next video will cover: why - the benefit of the master controller, what was done (without too much detail) - overview, options the master controller gives, the design features, the controller sections and using them, interchanging buttons and also keypad overlays, interchanging the controller sections including joystick blanks, demos using GameCube, Amiga CD32 and Intellivision (GameCube as shows the analogue joysticks and shoulder triggers, Amiga CD32 for the joystick blanks, Intellivision also for keypad). All inside 10 mins.

[bacteria]

Ok, rigged up the Amiga CD32 to the power regulator supplies made before, controller worked first time so screwed the casing down; that's officially two controllers finished.

Whilst the Intellivision controller casing is finishing drying (a couple of more days to be sure), i've decided to see if my NeoGeo MVS-1B console board works ok or not. Bought it about a year ago from weaponepsilon and not tested to see if it works yet. The system takes two voltages, 5v at 3 amps and 12v at 1 amp; at least that's what it says on the MVS-1B manual I downloaded recently. If my two 7805's working together aren't enough, then i'll add an extra one. I say "aren't enough" because it seems on many console systems that the rated amperage quoted seems higher than they actually take often; so if the 5v line needs 3 amps then two 7805's probably won't cut the mustard and a third one would be needed, if it needs say 2.5 amps, then they'll probably be ok. The 7805's are on a large heatsink, a GameCube heatsink, so lots of surface area for keeping the 7805's operationally cool enough.

The transformer i'm using for my power voltage regulators is rated at 12v at 4.16 amps, off the mains, which with any luck will be maybe enough to run the NeoGeo without needing to use two transformers.

One of the reasons is that i've looked at the NeoGeo cart port, there are two rows of pins with a total of 240 pins, which is a lot of desoldering and quite a large chance that it won't go smoothly. A chap on the Neo-Geo.com forum would sell me a dead board for the cart slots, however my plan would be, if the motherboard I have works ok, to buy a 138-in-1 cart as it has the 20 games on it I want, and you can disable the ones you don't want from the menu (I asked). I'll just have to solder the pins directly to the cart and have the cart internal in the system as it won't be removable. This means i'd then have to sell my 2 original carts.

Once i've determined if the NeoGeo works or not, i'll get on with making the 3rd controller section, Intellivision. I'm expecting to get that working first time too as the hard work with the matrix was solved a while back and I just need to rewire the connections from the old tact switches to the master controller section.