Game Boy Color Zero using Custom Parts, (Almost) No Glue

[infinitLoop]

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Nearly done with my second (!) GBCZ. but I'm still working out some kinks with the software. For this one, I've been trying to get RetroPie 4.4 working well with the SPI driver and everything else, but I'm still hitting some issues, so it's not totally "done" yet, however, the hardware all seems solid at this point, so probably worth sharing, so others can give it a try if they want...

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My goal this time (aside from using up some of the extra parts I bought the first time around) was to make it as "clean" as possible, which meant, in part, designing a 3D bracket to hold the pi on the front of the shell, so I could keep the screen and button board wires as short as possible. And since there was some room there around the pi, I also put some spots to mount the rest of the components, except for the PSU which would still mount in the cartridge area (and I used a real Game Boy Color game cart this time, which were all transparent, so you can see the status LEDs without having to drill anything anywhere, but I did cut out access to the micro usb charging port there). I also did up some 3D-printed mounts to hold soft press tactiles in the front, to use Game Boy Pocket buttons in the rear, and they just clip on the board, which is pretty neat (I put a little glue in to hold them, but they really didn't need that).

Since I freed up some room by keeping wires short, I actually fit a 4000mAh battery in the back !!!

The parts were basically the same as my first one but instead of I2S audio, i went with mono PWM and used Pocket Adventures filter and Adafruit's 8302a amp. I2S was definitely better sounding, but this works, and it was a couple less wires to connect. I was also hoping the PWM would be better performant than I2S, but that I can't tell for sure yet. I also found this navigation toggle which I'm using for the volume up and down, as well as the button monitor / hotkey.

A couple other notes... I was able to put a barrel jackin the original location, near the headphone jack, and all the front buttons are GBC ones that I sanded and polished the "a" and "b" off of. The screen protector is a mirrored plastic one (hard to take pictures of that don't turn out to be selfies), which I might swap for a glass one at some point if I find one that works well, but I tried a few different ones, and this one looked best (even though there are a couple scratches off to the side from bouncing around a parts box) so I might stick with it. Frustratingly, this shell isn't totally flat, and the protector has a tendency to pull up in one corner.

onto somm more pics...

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I will add in more details later.

here are the models I made and used, except for the front X/Y button wells. I used GBC buttons and modified this model but I wasn't really that happy with the results. I would recommend using GBP buttons and the well that I used on the first build instead.

For the shoulder buttons, I just kind of eye-balled the spot, but it lines up to just on the "outside" line of the wall where the game cart would normally sit, and then just to the bottom of the text that was printed onto the shell, above the battery compartment (hopefully that makes sense, but I'll try and add in some more images that illustrate that better).

GameBoy Color Z Screen Bracket Pi Mount.stl

(58.38 KiB) Downloaded 304 times

GameBoy Color Z Shoulder Button Mounts.stl

(8.68 KiB) Downloaded 286 times

GameBoy Pocket Button Plug.stl

(31.14 KiB) Downloaded 293 times

[infinitLoop]

more pics...

[infinitLoop]

gpio mapping guide for this build (optimized button placement an…Show

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[MrErickson]

Very nice! I'm quite impressed you fit a 4000ma battery in there, I've got a GBC common ground board from Erik and it's on my to build list, I was poking around Ebay for batteries like the one that just came with my Pocket PiFE kit.

[infinitLoop]

Very nice! I'm quite impressed you fit a 4000ma battery in there, I've got a GBC common ground board from Erik and it's on my to build list, I was poking around Ebay for batteries like the one that just came with my Pocket PiFE kit.

thanks it is totally nuts. i'm still testing and whatnot but it's something like 10+ hours of life with that. there's not really any room to spare with that in the case - a 2500mah-ish size would be an easy fit in this configuration - but it works.

i hope other people post some builds around that glitch'd board. i'd love to see what other people come up with in this form factor.

[Robochris]

hey! i know this thread is years old now. Ive been sitting on one of those gbc boards for a couple years now and planning on using it soon, i wish he still sold them.
Hows the screen tearing on those screens? the one that came with the pocket FE was unplayably terrible...
And do you have links for the screen and board you used?
Thanks!

[Robochris]

more pics...

Also, how'd you make the custom screen lens on the other gbc?

btw, im diggin that carl figure in the back.

[infinitLoop]

more pics...

Also, how'd you make the custom screen lens on the other gbc?

btw, im diggin that carl figure in the back.

thanks!

it was just a vinyl sticker i designed in photoshop and printed, and then a clear plastic lens.

a much better looking option tho is to get Bluish Squirrel to print one up for you. i had a hard time getting all the air bubbles out and getting a really clean cut on the edges of the vinyl


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[infinitLoop]

hey! i know this thread is years old now. Ive been sitting on one of those gbc boards for a couple years now and planning on using it soon, i wish he still sold them.
Hows the screen tearing on those screens? the one that came with the pocket FE was unplayably terrible...
And do you have links for the screen and board you used?
Thanks!

i never saw any screen tearing on my setup. it depends on the retropie you're using and stuff, but especially with the better video driver, it looks really good.

the board was from pocket adventures: http://www.pocketadventures.com/product_spi10.asp

and the screen was just something off ebay, like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112103136857

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[cRow949]

Cool. I love the look of the GBC Shell. Are the gameboy pocket buttons the same size as the GBC Buttons, because I think this project looks pretty cool. Was it easy or not beginner friendly.