Bacteria's Multi-Console System: Screen+Case+N64 - FINISHED

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri May 02, 2008 2:34 pm

Interesting, not sure about graphics yet, you got any ideas?? It would be nice to have a smart Bacteria worded logo - I was going to have a bash with some graphics programs, but if yours is special I might use it? Ideas?...

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri May 02, 2008 4:59 pm

I use Adobe products. Photoshop 7 (Outdated, but still good), and ImageReady (Good for animating).

I can also do some pretty amazing stuff with MSPaint, considering how crappy that program is,

.

Sharp Sapphire · Post by **Sharp Sapphire** » Fri May 02, 2008 6:39 pm

bacteria wrote:
WhatULive4 wrote:You have a lot of work ahead of you. Once you finish, your website is going to get so many hits, it'll be down in seconds! I bet every major blogsite will cover this thing.
Yup, major work; great, I love modding - it will be a sad day when it is all done!

I won't run out of allocated bandwidth using Host Papa - I have 1700Gb web hosting and 17000Gb data transfer in their Â£4.99 a month package!

I have registered on various forums at the moment, and modding sites; I intend to promote my work and website everywhere and aim to get lots of hits on the website. It will be interesting times. I will need to ensure I do a lot of work on the site to give people incentive to bookmark my page.

Do you honestly thing it is 100% true that they are giving out 1.7 terabytes of space and 17 terabytes of bandwiwdth for 10 bucks? Your host is overselling. I'm not trying to be mean or anything but I just want you to be aware...

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat May 03, 2008 1:18 am

Sharp Sapphire - No idea, seems generous, however they seem to have had the best reviews as host providers. I can only base the figures on their advert on their website:

I am probably only going to need about 400-500mb for images by the time I finish, no idea about traffic - when I used to use photobucket for images on my Nintendo 64 Advance project I was using several gig a month on bandwidth, so I might need (who knows) 20-30 gig bandwidth a month on my site?

Two nice updates to report on project:

1) My new camera is fantastic, it is a Canon PowerShot A570IS and the images are beautiful - colours are true, very crisp; and the video recording (and voice) is very good indeed. My future postings will have far better quality pics now!!

2) Finished the case front and sides. Spent all yesterday doing this. Rather than sticking paper to the case as before and varnishing it, this time I used PVA glue to stick the thick paper down (after doing a better job with the cutouts around the joysticks, etc, sanded it flat - I am going to use a mini paint roller to get a smooth finish and nice light colour, then varnish. The case outer (sides and top) are being finished fully before I put the guts in the system. Coming on nicely. You can't get perfection when making a case by hand, however the result will be far nicer looking than my last attempt. I have also designed the casing to hold the system within it and very securely, so I won't have any of the problems I had before.

brbhavetopee · Post by **brbhavetopee** » Sat May 03, 2008 6:16 am

bacteria wrote:
WhatULive4 wrote:You have a lot of work ahead of you. Once you finish, your website is going to get so many hits, it'll be down in seconds! I bet every major blogsite will cover this thing.
Yup, major work; great, I love modding - it will be a sad day when it is all done!

I won't run out of allocated bandwidth using Host Papa - I have 1700Gb web hosting and 17000Gb data transfer in their Â£4.99 a month package!

I have registered on various forums at the moment, and modding sites; I intend to promote my work and website everywhere and aim to get lots of hits on the website. It will be interesting times. I will need to ensure I do a lot of work on the site to give people incentive to bookmark my page.

What I've seen so far from you has already given me the incentive to bookmark your page.

Sharp Sapphire · Post by **Sharp Sapphire** » Sat May 03, 2008 6:41 am

bacteria wrote:Sharp Sapphire - No idea, seems generous, however they seem to have had the best reviews as host providers. I can only base the figures on their advert on their website:

I am probably only going to need about 400-500mb for images by the time I finish, no idea about traffic - when I used to use photobucket for images on my Nintendo 64 Advance project I was using several gig a month on bandwidth, so I might need (who knows) 20-30 gig bandwidth a month on my site?

Two nice updates to report on project:

1) My new camera is fantastic, it is a Canon PowerShot A570IS and the images are beautiful - colours are true, very crisp; and the video recording (and voice) is very good indeed. My future postings will have far better quality pics now!!

2) Finished the case front and sides. Spent all yesterday doing this. Rather than sticking paper to the case as before and varnishing it, this time I used PVA glue to stick the thick paper down (after doing a better job with the cutouts around the joysticks, etc, sanded it flat - I am going to use a mini paint roller to get a smooth finish and nice light colour, then varnish. The case outer (sides and top) are being finished fully before I put the guts in the system. Coming on nicely. You can't get perfection when making a case by hand, however the result will be far nicer looking than my last attempt. I have also designed the casing to hold the system within it and very securely, so I won't have any of the problems I had before.

I just wanted you to know that there is a severe chance that your host is overselling... just wanna keep the community informed.

I got kicked off my host that gave me 100Tb of bandwidth when I used over 3 Tb. hmmm

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat May 03, 2008 10:12 am

brbhavetopee - Thanks! I will let everyone know when a) I finish the screen section, b) have the N64 working inside the system (little work needed), c) working on website, d) website up.

Sharp Sapphire - Thanks for the input, you might be right, I don't know, what I do know is that if my website fails to work if they have capped my visitors from using bandwidth I will kick up merry hell and get my money back and switch providers. I am going to use them as they are rated well (96% rating) from reviews, so trust the independent reviews on the basis of no other qualified answers. Was your provider a free site or a paid one?

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sun May 04, 2008 5:24 am

Just got some more cracking bargains at a car boot sale:

2 x SNES, 2 x controllers, 1 x PSU, 1 SNES game all for Â£11 ($22).
SMS console and 14 games, 2 x controllers, PSU for Â£10 ($20).
PSone mini console, 2 x controllers for Â£4 ($8 ).

I didn't have an SMS, now have so that will add to my console system modding list. I got a couple of spare SNES's in case I fry one on my (ahem, 5 SNES's); I will keep two SNES unmodded units, others I will sell for some profit on e-bay. The second PSone mini is in case the CD drive is quieter than my other unit, and again a backup if I fry it. You can spend three or four times this price on e-bay for the systems above, although you can always get bargains at car boot sales! Also got another plug 'n' play for Â£1 (80 games) and Â£1.25 for Pacman and 4 other games. I also got a CD player for Â£3.

I am very good at bartering and haggling - all the above items had asking prices far higher

The guy I got the SMS system off I told about this website (he wanted Â£13 I got it for Â£10 for his system as above), he will visit us sometime soon - hi, if you are reading this, thanks man! Another forum visitor!! (if you do see this thread, feel free to post)...

Last week I got 12 N64 games for Â£8.50 ($17), 71p each (about $1.43), he wanted Â£1 each - I will use these to butcher for my console systems - each one needs two butchered N64 carts - I have others to hack up too, so I should have enough now - if not, I can buy more N64 games at car boot sales for about Â£1 each.

On the subject of the casing, I have been spending lots of time preparing the case before I start painting it, take lots of care and your result is always far better. Rather than using holes for the joysticks as before, I am using the raised moulded areas from GameCube joysticks, they are in the case and look rather nice. Character.

Sharp Sapphire · Post by **Sharp Sapphire** » Sun May 04, 2008 2:03 pm

Was your provider a free site or a paid one?

Paid. Luckilly i'm going to be stepping up to a dedicated server soon. <3

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:44 pm

At critical stage at the moment, put about four coats of paint onto case with mini roller, looks very nice, however it hasn't dried properly yet, leaving it overnight. When dry, I need to check everything is fine; I then have to hope the paper and paint haven't stuck to the screen I put through for the painting process (to make sure I didn't catch the paper with the roller and tear it). I used an old screen covered in PVC and tape to stop the paint contacting it.

This, so far, looks very nice indeed. Assuming all goes well I hope to post a pic of it.

UPDATE

Thought I would change the colour to white with spraypaint, not a good idea, it removed some of the paint from underneath - repaired it, put some of the cream paint back on top, once it dries I will give it a sanding and I want it quite smooth, and then (hopefully) a final coat. This means it won't be dry to use until tomorrow or the following day. I can't do anything else on the project until this is done.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri May 09, 2008 3:55 am

I decided to go for a slightly grained/rough look, as this gives character. A perfectly smooth surface is very hard to achieve with paint; and I would be drawn to any imperfections which might be present - as a result, I have gone for a textured look. I like it. There are various imperfections, minor ones though, not noticeable though as it looks like it was designed that way - character.

I just need to varnish the paint with a couple of coats to seal the paint, it is a very tough varnish I use, resists chipping, etc.

The bulky bit at the bottom (with the Scart and headphone hole) is the section the two batteries will reside. The rest of the case is 30mm high, which should be enough to house the console system half too, or almost all of it anyway. The system half will slot into this enclosure, like a lunchbox, and the two connector cart slots will keep it all together. Until all the bits are secured into the casing you won't see what I mean, and also some clever wiring I need to do.

Anyway, some pics:

I am very happy with the design and looks of the case

I will expand as to how I made this and various tricks I used (like the button surrounds, far better than before) when my website is up. These are pics in key stages, not as I go along after all.

UPDATE

Put on first coat of varnish, again using a mini paint roller. Gives a very nice effect, like a "ripple" texture. Lovely! I will put three coats on the casing before I start to use it, three coats will give good protection.

evilteddy · Post by **evilteddy** » Fri May 09, 2008 2:31 pm

bacteria wrote: I am very happy with the design and looks of the case

So am I. looks great.

Sharp Sapphire · Post by **Sharp Sapphire** » Fri May 09, 2008 8:20 pm

Interesting case paint, looks like a wall!

Anyways, your host is really slow... those images took forever to download

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri May 09, 2008 8:47 pm

evilteddy - Thanks! I can't get perfection using the materials I am, but I am happy with the effect I got.

Sharp Sapphire - It is wall paint (single coat stuff). I must have put on about 6 coats of paint and 4 of clear varnish. I needed to protect the thick paper surrounding the screen area from damage whilst painting, and also stop the paper from deforming, so I put a layer of 10thou PVC over a spare PSone screen and covered the edges with electrical tape, as paint will stick to it but the tape has low adhesion - sure enough, worked great!

Images always work quickly for me, must have been a blip.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:39 am

Been active on project all day.

Got screen and mobo in place, one of the joysticks in place and connected, one of the two multi-connectors wired up (not secured in place yet), the 4 buttons and A and B buttons wired up, speakers in place, headphone jack in place. Still have D-pad, other joystick, shoulder buttons, TI card to connect; then I can start the construction for the batteries holder.

This time, rather than using lots of posts and hot gluing in place, I have managed to screw most things in place; far easier to repair if needed. The electrical tape to the left of the Scart plug is just to keep the cables down.

I have connected every other wire on the multi-connectors as a ground this time and I am using better wires this time.