Keen goes Pi: Play Commander Keen mods on a Gameboy

[Nisaba]

Yep, there are tones of solutions out there for semi handheld devices. but I do love the fact that you can case mod an origin console from back in the day and tweak things to the limit.

What the fucl? 45% import fee. And I've always thought Denmark was member of the European Union?! What's wrong with you guys It would be even cheaper to get on a plain and pick up the package at Kites door...

About the soldering: YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING WRONG! at least you cannot break or brick the circuit board itself. the board comes with JST-connection-wires which only need to be soldered to some extra buttons/a 3€ speaker. on the other side you simply plug it in. it's easy as that. skill level: rookie, I'd say.
If you wanna know how to solder eitherway the forums feature a beautiful step-by-step beginners guide called: Soldering School - AKA Don't wreck your new AIO board!


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images by Kite

About the glue: it's only the screen bracket plus the on/off switch you'll have to glue in place. for everything else you'll use screws like you would assemble a regular un-modded case.
concerning the 3D prints: normally every town should have some kind of a "hacker-space" with 3D-Printing devices. but I could be wrong about that.


ps.:
Pre-orders close: 27/02/2018

[troublesomekeen]

Getting to work now. Bips and bobs delivered in the mail. Case modifications coming along. Stay on target. Attempting to drill holes for X & Y buttons. Decided I do want L & R buttons. Must make holes for the status LEDs. Not sure how to proceed beyond this point. Must buy glue, tape and soldering tools.

[Nisaba]

The motherboard is a real beauty, isn't she?!

about the case mod: I'd recommend to not drill the x&y holes unless you have the screen bracket printed/bought. This is because you need to make sure to line things up. (Of course you can come up with your very own design ideas, but things are so much easier when using some given templates. At least when doing such things for the first time.)

You can use whatever tools you want, but here is my little recommendation list:

• 3D print your own screen bracket (or buy one over here: https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2553
  

• use a step drill for the x & y holes (~3$)
  

• when done things should look something like this:
  

After that point you are done with the hardest part and you can start assembling all pieces and bits. The wiki is always a good place to consult when having issues while assembling. https://github.com/kiteretro/Circuit-Sword/wiki

Next chapter:
software tweaks... but one step at the time (I've designed a neat interface theme I could share if you wish... And please don't hesitate to ask anything anytime.

[troublesomekeen]

Thanks, Nisaba! I shall be flinging questions your way as I progress further.



My main trouble now is getting hold of the proper battery.

Was this Kite package supposed to come with a fan? Or was that an optional add-on?

[Nisaba]

Yeah, green buttons on a black build. I added black ones this time around but I think I'm gonna exchange them for bordeaux coloured buttons...

You could use nearly any smartphone battery as long as you can manage to fit it inside the case. Anyhow, I'd go with this battery over here which is the perfect solution for this project in terms of size and power: https://sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... 320#p24389 you might want to check the shipping conditions though...

The fan is optional and so is the volume wheel. I have added a fan but in my experience it's not really needed unless you are about to play a whole lot of PlayStation/Dreamcast games. The volume wheel on the other hand is a neat extra as it gives the GameBoy a more classic kind of look and feel. You can still purchase one of these until February the 27th. But remember that it's either the HDMI out or the volume wheel. Link: https://sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=5212

[Nisaba]

I updated the first post with fresh information and a little how to guide. check it!
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3673&p=80741#p80741

[troublesomekeen]

Thanks! I'll give it a read. This helped a lot in terms of putting it all together:
https://sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5268

I think I totally botched the back board, whatever it's called. The board with L1, L2, GND, R1, R2, GND. The power switch does fit nor does it respond properly. The gluing process didn't go so well either. The case doesn't fit together properly. But the first boot was a success! And my battery provides power, which means I soldered the wires correctly and got the voltage (minus/positive) right! I want to try some synthesizer DIY stuff, so maybe it's not a total loss, having all these new tools around.

[Nisaba]

yeah, that's a pretty decent picture based tutorial. seeing is believing...

IIRC there is an issue with the responses of the power switch, but that is due to the different production lines of those after market cases. when you close the case the switch feels a bit wobbly, right? what you wanna do is hot-glue it to the actual switch pin. this gives you the needed millimeter to power things on and off smoothly. just make sure to stick it to the inner right corner (when looking at it from the front case). and I'd recommend using hot glue since you can heat it up later on, if things got messed up.

what's with the backboard L1-R2? does it fit in place?
what about the rest. you spoke about tight-fitting things in order to close the case. but "normally" you should have enough room for every bits and pieces. if you post some pics I can guide you along the process. I did a lot of mistakes in my previous builds and feel real confident by now. so I might know some dirty tricks to fix things...

don't give up just yet. I can promises you, it feels real good when finally everything comes together. and building such thing gets quite addicting after some time. also my soldering skill level evolved rapidly, which is a nice side effect.

[Nisaba]

the first post of this thread is now up to date. thanks to Fleex you can now download all pre-configured files, transfer them, and start playing your favourite Commander Keen mods on a GameBoy!

[Nisaba]

good news everybody:
The Circuit Sword and Circuit Sword Lite are now available to pre-order!
(pre-order is open till 01/07/2018)

for further information just follow this link: https://sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=6145

[Snortimer]

I already play Keen on my OpenPandora handheld.

But this is neat. So are there any videos of it in action? I'd be interested in seeing a video of the process starting from turning on the device to starting the Keen game, to see how long the startup takes and how well the game runs. Also, what's the total cost to make one of these? Are there L/R buttons on the back?

Pi has internet, so does NetKeen also work? (it does on the Pandora, though the frameskip has to be high; I wrote a tutorial about it)

Does the Dosbox on this thing have a way to type (on screen keyboard)?

[Nisaba]

thanks for your interest,

OpenPandora? sounds juicy. do you have some footage of your handheld? I'd like to see this portentous named thing in action. What kind of emulators run on this badboy? and does it come ready to use out of the box?

I always wanted to shoot a short clip, but somehow did't do it. I put it on my TODO list. maybe I get the chance to record something by the end of this weekend, but don't pin me down on this.

Bootup time is about 12 seconds, but that really depends on how much stuff you have on it which needs do be loaded in memory. I remember something like 5-7 seconds after a fresh flashed image, plus I had no data and emulators installed yet. Shutdown time ~2-3 seconds.

Keen Games run really smooth with no noticeable flaws. Even Atroxian Realm shows no perceptible loading delays, compared to a more powerful desktop computer. I'm very satisfied with the results. NetKeen should work as well, but I haven't tested it yet...
In terms of emulation I can play nearly every PlayStation One, SEGA CD, many N64, some PSP and Dreamcast games. This should give you an idea how powerful the Raspberry Pi CM3 is.

in terms of typing you have to either plug in a keyboard (via an USB port) or SSH to manually change stuff.

You can pretty much add as many extra buttons as you wish. My current build just uses the extra X&Y buttons, a PSP stick and L&R buttons on the back. but you could of course do a lot of funky stuff. remember: this is a DIY project. the only limit is your imagination, your will and creativity to bring your extraordinary thoughts to life... for e.g. one guy designed a 3D model (CAD) of the case, so you can print it yourself. btw, sudomod.com has a very fine and exceptionally gifted community. I'd recommend to check out the forums. you can find nearly everything there from people who share their knowledge to guys who design and print their own circuit boards and sell them for a reasonable price.

you asked me about the total cost... well, let me see. can't really remember, but it might be something about this:

• aftermarket case ~ 15€
• extra buttons ~5€
• circuit board + raspberry pi cm3 + crisp screen + speaker ~ 125€
• gorilla screen ~20€
• custom 5000+mAh lipo battery ~15€
• SD-Card ~10€
• 3D printed stuff ~10€

Of course you need tools and glue. and it depends where you live, how much shipping and VAT you need to pay on top of it. but this should give you a ruff idea. and boy, it's so much fun building it! I made a couple custom handhelds and gave them away to family and friends...

EDIT:
I recently stumbled upon this awesome wallnut woody shell and felt the instant urge to share this awesome project with you real quick.

[DoomJedi]

Guys, I can understand the fun and the charm of making your own DIY retro handheld. I really do.
Though...Retroflag GPi case? sseems to solve that for you.

But as quite an expert both in retropie and in modern retro handhelds - you have much simple solutions to play your Keen/Keen mods (and other retro games and consoles) flawlessly for under 70 bucks.
I have such...quite a collection actually. Open source, powerful, cheap, big community around those...what else do you need?

Do you want particular recommendations? I'm always here.

[Nisaba]

oh yeah, the Retroflag GPi case. They did a couple of interesting design choices. I remember that the sudomod.com community warmly welcomed this solution. It's especially designed for inexperienced modders and people who don't want to take the long road (soldering/programming and stuff). I really like this solution although I wouldn't buy one of these cause building is half the fun, isn't it?! also it's pretty limited as it comes only with a pi zero which is ok if you don't wanna emulate psx, n64 or dreamcast games. less power, smaller screen, reduced features... but hey! you can use it right away. unboxing plus adding a pi zero and you are ready to go!
Disclaimer: unfortunately source code mods like Atroxian Realm might not run fluently on this system though.

But please tell me more about your collection! I'm really curious. What kinda handhelds do you have? did you build them? and most importantly, do you ever use 'em?

BTW, this is my latest build. Comes with a Compute Module 3. I really like the design (grey version + snes button layout):

[DoomJedi]

Well, I didn't intent to make a collection.
I was just going for the best handheld...and those changed with time (and keep progressing).
All this beside my retropie of course.

I had RS97 (till it stopped working), now I have LDK, RG300 x 2 (including IPS screen version), RG350 + a bunch of famiclones (3-4 such).


RG350 is my recent addition, new-gen 1GHz handhend that runs Keen mods flawlessly (including Atroxian Realm which I played just a few days ago).
Runs ps1 almost flawlessly as well.
Here you can get it for 74$, I got it for less than 70 $ using a discount code that ofter shows up in retro-handheld discords I hang out in.
You get very impressive specs, including vibration motors, stereo sound, 2 analogs etc. Tons of games for it and improved emulators coming out on daily basis in retro discords.
https://retromimi.com/collections/handh ... me-console

Here are upcoming newgen competitors:
GKD350H - 1.5GHz (can be overclocekd up to 2GHz!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWjlNAt4X8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA0CbHPgO8o

POcketGo v2 (shipping December 20th) - 1 GHz
https://droidbox.co.uk/pocket-go-v2-ret ... d.html[/b]

Retroflag GPi case

For me the batteries were the deal breaker.

did you build them?

Why to build if there are cheap ready one? Isn't worth it.
I did replace screen in one of them.

and most importantly, do you ever use 'em?

Sure, every day or so