Hoenn National Pokedex Gameboy

[Madmorda]

Hey guys!

This is going to be my written worklog for my entry into the Hack Like Heck competition. It will be more detailed than my video entry for anyone who wants to duplicate the project later. The goal is to create a handheld gaming system within a month, so I will be making a Raspberry Pi portable due to time constraints.

I have decided that my portable will be designed after the Hoenn national pokedex. As far as I can find, nobody has completed a functional one of these (although someone made good progress on a gameboy advance mod and there is a toy shaped like it.)

The case will be 3d printed housing a raspberry pi 3 with 3.5" composite LCD screen, and use gameboy buttons and a 3ds slider for controls.

I know my favorite part of worklogs is looking at the pictures, so here you guys go!

The case isn't completed, but I've made enough progress that I wanted to stake a claim on this project and start documenting it.

 

[The Save State Gamer]

I still suggest, using logic and facts, the following:

1. Remove the ports and trim the Pi board.
2. Use a 3.5 inch hdmi screen. Pi composite is benchmarkably (worse than original consoles on a CRT) trash. Wire it by hand, board to board.
3. Use a teensy and include analog. If you don't want to include analog you may as well use a Zero. Limiting the Pi 3 to non-analog games is mindblowingly undersighted from a cpu capability and power rating standpoint.
4. Include 4 face buttons. Limiting even the Zero to no snes and genesis games is mindblowingly undersighted from a cpu capability standpoint.
5. Don't use the Pi 3 without analog. You will be wasting battery life on extra cpu power and board abilities.

 

[Madmorda]

Thanks for your input

1) I have removed the ports, but there is absolutely no benefit to trimming the board to fit in this case.

2) I will be using this composite screen because I already have it and am trying to build this on a budget. An hdmi screen would definitely be better and less trouble, but I have never minded composite on such a small screen.

3) I don't see any reason to use analog in this project. I'm making it as close as possible to the pokedex for aesthetic reasons. Like you said, that will limit some functionality in terms of face buttons, meaning that I would have little to no use for analog.

4) As I mentioned, the goal of this project is to replicate the pokedex. There are tons of raspberry pi portables with more functionality and efficiency, but none that are as cool as a pokedex that you can play pokemon on

5) This is the same as number 3 lol.

I appreciate you giving me advice as this is my first raspberry pi portable, but in this case I am putting the cool factor over functionality. My projects tend to be themed or aesthetic, even if that means sacrificing some efficiency. This is just a project that I plan to have fun with and build to my own satisfaction After all, that's what this hobby is about.

 

[cheese]

mindblowingly undersighted

mindblowingly undersighted

>be me
>supreme shitposting lord
>shitpost on people's work
>"I personally suggest"
>perfect, wrap insult in a blanket of protection
>"undersighted" oh that sounds fancy
>repeat multiple times

oh shit wait we're not on reddit

There are rules

 

[Stitches]

I personally suggest the following:

1. Remove the ports and trim the Pi board.
2. Use a 3.5 inch hdmi screen. Pi composite is trash. Wire it by hand, board to board.
3. Use a teensy and include analog. If you don't want to include analog you may as well use a Zero. Limiting the Pi 3 to non analog games is mindblowingly undersighted from a cpu standpoint.
4. Include 4 face buttons. Limiting even the Zero to no snes and genesis games is mindblowingly undersighted from a cpu standpoint.
5. Don't use the Pi 3 without analog. You will be wasting battery life on extra cpu power and board abilities.

My dude, did I not tell you about doing this just a month ago? DON'T IMPOSE YOUR OPINIONS ON OTHER PEOPLE's PROJECTS, it's not hard. You could have easily just asked "Composite on a Pi3 is a bit dodgy, is there a reason you aren't using HDMI or a GPIO driven screen? Also, you could use a teensy for the controls, it would also let you make use of analog for the slider." That took me 20 seconds, no bullet points, no "mindblowingly undersighted" insult, no repetition, just a valid decently presented question. Pls.

 

[DeoNaught]

Hoenn is one of my favorite pokemon games, and your one of my favorite modders...
coincidence? I think not.

Can't wait to see where this goes!

Also, I don't see your power switch? are you going for button? or just haven't gotten to it yet?

 

[Madmorda]

Hoenn is one of my favorite pokemon games, and your one of my favorite modders...
coincidence? I think not.

Can't wait to see where this goes!

Also, I don't see your power switch? are you going for button? or just haven't gotten to it yet?

thank you!

I haven't gotten to it yet haha. I haven't decided on what kind of switch but I need to order it soon. A slider would be more gameboy-like, but a rocker switch would look cleaner. I've never used a button switch in a portable. Decisions decisions... I'm open to suggestions if you have a small /medium switch you like

 

[cheese]

https://www.pi-supply.com/product/pi-supply-raspberry-pi-power-switch/
even comes with "a flat noodle USB cable"

 

[ShockSlayer]

Hoenn

TRIGGERED

...unless you post a picture of the unit with my Hoenn easter egg in Fuchsia City. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[nobble]

WOW! I totally approve of this build ALL THE WAY! Great idea @Madmorda! You and I will have slightly similar projects entered, but completely different with the theme. I wish you all the best in the contest! Now I gotta get cracking on my work log!

 

[The Save State Gamer]

The Pi 3 draws 2A nominally to support ports, board features as bluetooth and wifi, and a stong processor.

The Pi Zero draws 200mA nominally , one tenth of the Pi 3's current draw, to support esentially only a processor.

Let's look at this from a design perspective. This portable will only play games both Pi's can handle, will be using composite (hdmi is easier to wire on a 3 due to surface mount pin width), and has a capacity limit on the battery.

Because no features would be removed by using a Zero, and using a 3 would kill battery life, it is logical to use a Zero.

No one would use the Death Star core to power a handheld flashlight. Good design uses no more than is needed, because of cost.

On the topic of cost, the 3 is 35 USD while the Zero is 5 USD. If this build is supposed to be cheap, a Zero should be used anyway regardless of features.

From a CPU sizing perspective, the 3's CPU is wayyyyyy overkill for this build. Because buttons are cheaper than CPU's, it is better to add more buttons to the Pi 3, than it is to use a Pi 3 on a portable that should be using a Zero. "Mindblowingly Undersighted" is not opinion, but reality.

 

[Noah]

The Pi 3 draws 2A nominally to support ports, board features as bluetooth and wifi, and a stong processor.

The Pi Zero draws 200mA nominally , one tenth of the Pi 3's current draw, to support esentially only a processor.

Let's look at this from a design perspective. This portable will only play games both Pi's can handle, will be using composite (hdmi is easier to wire on a 3 due to surface mount pin width), and has a capacity limit on the battery.

Because no features would be removed by using a Zero, and using a 3 would kill battery life, it is logical to use a Zero.

No one would use the Death Star core to power a handheld flashlight. Good design uses no more than is needed, because of cost.

On the topic of cost, the 3 is 35 USD while the Zero is 5 USD. If this build is supposed to be cheap, a Zero should be used anyway regardless of features.

From a CPU sizing perspective, the 3's CPU is wayyyyyy overkill for this build. Because buttons are cheaper than CPU's, it is better to add more buttons to the Pi 3, than it is to use a Pi 3 on a portable that should be using a Zero. "Mindblowingly Undersighted" is not opinion, but reality.

The same case can be made for 6-layer Wiis vs. 4-layer Wiis. People still use both for various reasons ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

When you start a project you can make whatever choices you want, regardless of "logic" or whether or not something is correct. It doesn't really bother anyone else here that Madmorda wants to use a Pi 3. Not to mention this is for a contest, so it should be beefed up to look more impressive.

If you don't like the way Madmorda is doing things then start your own project if you think you can do better. Don't just sit here and try to berate her choices because you don't agree with or like them.

 

[nobble]

You can run a Pi 3 and screen off the Powerboost 1000, so IDK what the big deal is.

 

[The Save State Gamer]

@nobble Of course you can, if you shutdown Pi 3 on-board hardware and are interested only in the processor. 2A is a nominal current draw for a more capability filled setup.

@Noah The project can only be "beefed up" if it has more capabilities, not just if it uses a better processor. An i9 box running just DOS isn't as useful as a Smartphone despite its better processing abilities. DOS gimps the machine in total, just as lacking 2 buttons gimps this Pi portable. Gimping the machine or misappropriating SBC's to devices makes the project worse, by showing misjudged component design. Misjudged design causes waste, which is fundamentally bad, because wasted resources could have been used elsewhere.

This is indeed all advice anyway. Anyone can do anything with their portable. But logic based advice is good because it can guide individuals to a better, cheaper, smaller, etc. product. Most GameCube portable ideas get immediately shot down around here. Why? Because logic states that GameCube portables are inferior to Wii portables, and members relay this logic to those with GameCube portable ideas. If there is to be no logic, opinion, or discourse, these forums are pointless.

 

[ShockSlayer]

Everyone hears you and nobody cares.

The portable is themed; not optimal - this means logic goes out the window by premise. With all your talk about logic, you're not applying it where it counts.

Further discourse on the topic will result in an immediate ban. This is your last and only warning.

 

[fibbef]

@Madmorda you could try the trick of driving your screen directly from the pi’s GPIO. I think @YveltalGriffin recently posted a link on how to do that (I really need to bookmark that). You might get a bit better video clarity and will save some space with no screen driver board.

This is a really cool project and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a “functional” Pokédex.

 

[ShockSlayer]

Honestly you could just give this project to fibeef and he'd complete it 100%. Trust me. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[Madmorda]

Thank you guys @nobble I'm so excited to see what you'll make now haha.

@Madmorda you could try the trick of driving your screen directly from the pi’s GPIO. I think @YveltalGriffin recently posted a link on how to do that (I really need to bookmark that). You might get a bit better video clarity and will save some space with no screen driver board.

This is a really cool project and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a “functional” Pokédex.

I think I've got plenty of room but that's definitely a good idea it's so nice having a project where everything actually fits without insanity

 

[Luke]

it's so nice having a project where everything actually fits without insanity

Jealous

 

[nobble]

@Madmorda This is a really cool project and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a “functional” Pokédex.

My friend who runs PokeCon wanted to make one that was a RPi-based cell phone with image recognition similar to facial matching that could tell stats about a pokemon when it was placed in front of the camera. POSSIBLE IDEA???

Thank you guys @nobble I'm so excited to see what you'll make now haha.

Worklog is live! THE FUTURE IS NOW.