The eN64p STATUS: Finalizing case. Total cost: $134

underclocked · Post by **underclocked** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:12 pm

There is on the inside but i was talking about where they would be placed on the outside. I guess there would be room if they werent on the handles.

robm · Post by **robm** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:21 pm

It's hard to see in the pic, but there should be plenty of room on the lower left corner for the stick. The d-pad's going to be interesting, but I think what I'm going to do with that is set it above the stick, down into the recessed area (which will actually be filled in so that it's level with the stick.) The d-pad was hardly used anyway.

The two side buttons are going to work well for the trigger/z buttons. Obviously they will be made to look a good deal less ridiculous. The remaining buttons are going to be a chore, but I believe they'll fit on the lower right corner, below the screen.

It's going to be interesting. It is certainly going to be fun. And it is even more certainly to be a big female dog.

While I'm waiting on battery procurement, I'll be working on this case. I'll post pics as I progress. Plans for case modification (I was going to keep most of it a surprise, but eh, screw it...) :

The recessed area will be leveled off with a good, clear plastic to help protect the LCD and give a more professional appearance.

The handles may well be fiberglassed over, closing the holes. This may or may not happen, depending on whether or not I need the surface area for buttons/stick. I don't want to have to do this, however. The handles are cool, if made for toddlers.

I believe the cart slot may be poking out the bottom of the unit; not entirely certain of this as of yet, but I think the curve is almost perfectly shaped to the N64 cart! That would look purty.

I didn't get a picture of it, but the back piece of the case has a crapton full of great holes to be used for charging/headphones/etc, so that helps a lot. There's even a large battery compartment that may help with cart slot location, if need be.

I'll post frequent pic updates.

robm · Post by **robm** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:35 pm

Ok, got some Dremel-ing done on the case.

The back half of the case had some two-inch tall, inch diameter stand-offs that required removal, which was rather easy. Considering their insane size. The viewing area for the LCD has been created; I need to use some filler to fill in the gaps, then need to sand to get even. Here's the result:

Here's an obviously photoshopped mock-up of what I think the final result will be:

Keep in mind, the area where the LCD is should be completely level when completed, so the top button should be ok. What you won't find in this picture is the location of the d-pad. I haven't decided what to do with that just yet.

Funny side note - the case seems to have standoffs that may allow me to mount the motherboard with no modifications necessary. That will be amusing.

Speakers are to be located on the rear of the unit; I'm not real crazy about the idea, but there is no place else to locate them.

deviouskoopa · Post by **deviouskoopa** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:45 pm

C buttons below the A/B buttons? weirdddddddd

robm · Post by **robm** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:54 pm

Heh, yeah, it is kind of weird.

I've got a controller yanked apart, I need to use the buttons and do some real-life mockups to see what works best. The way this case is made, that particular configuration wouldn't be that uncomfortable, just weird to get used to if you're a hard-core N64 user.

I'm thinking of leaving out the d-pad altogether, though I think any game system without a d pad just looks wrong somehow. Maybe I'll put it right next to the stick, there's plenty of room along the bottom of this case.

deviouskoopa · Post by **deviouskoopa** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:38 pm

Yeah I wouldn't leave it out, there are a few good games you (may) need it for... it shouldn't be too much extra work

schmellyfart · Post by **schmellyfart** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:05 am

how comfortable is that layout? it doesnt look too comfortable

TAFKA_Cennar · Post by **TAFKA_Cennar** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:40 am

http://cennar.bravehost.com/m64.htm evedently cost at 67 dollars.
lol yep sounds like me..

yeah that layout looks low handed. im sure you could fill over the handles. now i get it your comming at the controlls like a psx... I dont know some games would not like that.

robm · Post by **robm** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:42 pm

Yeah, the case is a little bottom-heavy. The thing is, I've got monster-hands :\ Not obnoxiously large by any means, but can palm a basketball with zero issues. So, this layout wouldn't be bad for me to handle at all, but anyone with smaller hands would have an issue.

Although, the more I deal with the case, the more I think filling in the handles would be a good idea. We'll see; fiberglass is getting broke out Wednesday, so I expect some more pics to follow on Friday.

robm · Post by **robm** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:06 pm

Just as an update, as I was prepping the case for some fiberglass work, I realized that not filling in the handles just isn't going to work. So, I'm in the process of wrapping the top half of the case in material, and will be applying fiberglass this evening. I've got to cut the handles out some first though.

The D-pad will be going on the left part of the handle, with the stick below it. Should work out ok, I think. Pictures to follow either tomorrow (if the resin dries fast enough in this weather,) or Friday.

robm · Post by **robm** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:45 pm

While getting things a bit more situated with the case, I ran across something that struck me as amusing. Turns out this case has a perfect spot for the fan:

Before I get the plastics placed and the material wrapped before fiberglassing, here's a general mock-up so far:

For the observant among you, you'll notice I don't have the joystick exactly centered. Otherwise, when holding the unit, when you move your thumb up, you would actually move left instead of up. By rotating this just a bit, it keeps things more natural-feeling.

I should be able to lay the fibgerglass down this evening. If not, then it's tomorrow evening, with pics on Friday.

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:09 pm

I'm really enjoying this build log - keep it up! That case is cracking me up, but like hailrazer's lazerdoodle case it looks like it will be great.

robm · Post by **robm** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:36 pm

I'm glad you're enjoying it

I'm having a lot of fun building it. If all goes well, I'll be laying fiberglass down tonight (didn't manage to get to it last night, we had a surprise snow storm here so I had to dig the car out. Excuses excuses.) Anyway, I'll post pics soon.

robm · Post by **robm** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:23 pm

I was going to try just a plain-old voltage regulator for the 3.3v line ... but... I decided to be in with the cool kidz, yo, so I ordered the pth08000 tonight. 8.56 from digikey.

Let's see, brings total build cost to an even $50, I believe. The only thing left to procure is the battery/charger setup, which should run about 36 to 50 bucks. If that ends up being all I need, then total build cost is $100 or less.

palmertech · Post by **palmertech** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:11 pm

You could have ordered a sample.