Worklog Booshman's N64 portable

[riess]

@Booshman
Personally, I think the best solution and the easiest for you is to use the GameCube style n64 replacement joystick its plugandplay, fully compatible with the original n64controller.
I bought it on eBay.

This is a hong kong base seller maybe cheaper for you:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gamecube-G...443738&hash=item25a7acf4ba:g:YHAAAOSwZd1VcxIy

Picture for reference:

 

[Booshman]

What is it with me and quotes today? Gawdamnit. Nevermind.

The N64 stick uses a funny "gate and step" system for measuring movement (if you open one up you'll see that it's got funny little "flywheel" parts in it - amongst everything else that wears out) that essentially counts how many steps it is away from its initial starting point and thus turns that into an analogue input. All other console sticks tend to use potentiometers ("pot" for short) which divide the voltage and that is used to give a position. That's the unfortunate catch here - all pot input needs to be translated to N64 input, so even sacrificing that controller wouldn't get things going for you I'm afraid.

The other quick and dirty solution is to use a Gamecube stick - the PCB on that will translate the information into N64 but it is oversensitive and cannot really be used to play any FPS games.

I've seen the tutorials by Bacteria on Youtube where he uses a dual shock stick for his portable. There is no mention of any additional components needed to get it working. Is this because he used a Superpad64 instead of the official controller? It looks to have pots on the sides.

Edit: I just saw your last post as I replied. That GC stick looks good, so I take it the sensitivity is fine on that one? I'll have to message the HK seller, though if I get one I'll have to wait until after the postal service starts up again. Damn Chinese new year.

 

[Pacal]

There’s a way to connect the joystick from the Wii U to the original N64 controller,if this is the same joystick you have,then you can!

Joystick from the left side of the Wii U game pad

There is a little board under this third party joystick

Just remove the board and wire It to the Wii U joystick like this

I tested with Mario 64 and goldeneye 64 just for a little bit and it works,you can give it a try if you want

 

[Booshman]

There’s a way to connect the joystick from the Wii U to the original N64 controller,if this is the same joystick you have,then you can!

Excellent! That's what I have. I'll have to wait to be able to order the joystick, but thanks for the info!

 

[MRKane]

That also (amazingly) has sensitivity issues. It makes goldeneye and perfect dark a little difficult to play, but otherwise is a really good solution. Interestingly enough it seems to make Mario run a little faster...

 

[Booshman]

That also (amazingly) has sensitivity issues. It makes goldeneye and perfect dark a little difficult to play, but otherwise is a really good solution. Interestingly enough it seems to make Mario run a little faster...

Is there any sort of mod that could be done to it to lower the sensitivity. Playability of Goldeneye is a pretty big deal for me.

 

[MRKane]

Yes, it's discussed here: https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5803.0
Now in saying all of that, buy and try the stick first as it might have been improved (god knows the code is freely downloadable) or you mightn't find it that bad.

 

[Booshman]

Yes, it's discussed here: https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5803.0
Now in saying all of that, buy and try the stick first as it might have been improved (god knows the code is freely downloadable) or you mightn't find it that bad.

Thanks. I just read some reviewers on Amazon saying the later ones are better. So I'll give it a go. The Hong Kong seller got back to me and they don't ship to mainland China, so I'll have to see what I can do there.

 

[Booshman]

I did some work on the front, adding the B, A, C buttons. I've also some some work to smooth oit the front. The parts I'd ABS welded had bowed a bit, so I've built up the concave sections to give a uniform look all over.

 

[VOS MOD]

I've seen the tutorials by Bacteria on Youtube where he uses a dual shock stick for his portable. There is no mention of any additional components needed to get it working. Is this because he used a Superpad64 instead of the official controller? It looks to have pots on the sides.

Edit: I just saw your last post as I replied. That GC stick looks good, so I take it the sensitivity is fine on that one? I'll have to message the HK seller, though if I get one I'll have to wait until after the postal service starts up again. Damn Chinese new year.

I used a superpad 64 controller in my portable. It uses pots and has a built in ADC so you can simply splice together any old analog stick, from a ps2 controller for instance, and it will work great. Sensitivity and deadzones are on point. I highly recommend it if you can't find another option, and if you have any questions regarding wiring it up etc., I'll be glad to help!

 

[Booshman]

I used a superpad 64 controller in my portable. It uses pots and has a built in ADC so you can simply splice together any old analog stick, from a ps2 controller for instance, and it will work great. Sensitivity and deadzones are on point. I highly recommend it if you can't find another option, and if you have any questions regarding wiring it up etc., I'll be glad to help!

Thanks for the info. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the Superpad chopped down would you? I'm curious how small you were able to get it as your portable looks tiny.

Also, if anyone can give feedback on my practice board chop, pictured on the previous page, I'd appreciate it. Are there any areas I went to far, or not enough? Does chopping it down this much remove the ability to have a 4 player breakout option?

 

[VOS MOD]

Thanks for the info. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the Superpad chopped down would you? I'm curious how small you were able to get it as your portable looks tiny.

So I was able to cut the board and get it this small:

Though I used a regular SuperPad 64 instead of the SuperPad 64 plus. Electrically, they're the same thing though.

 

[Booshman]

So I was able to cut the board and get it this small:

Though I used a regular SuperPad 64 instead of the SuperPad 64 plus. Electrically, they're the same thing though.

Great. So either of these 2 then?

I used this one for the buttons, which has the Superpad name, but the analogue stick was like an official controller.

 

[VOS MOD]

Great. So either of these 2 then?

I used this one for the buttons, which has the Superpad name, but the analogue stick was like an official controller.

Yeah the one I used exactly is the one on the right of the first pic. I basically cut off the sections of the board that went to the button contacts and then traced them back and wired up to the traces themselves. Pretty simple.

 

[MRKane]

What about waiting a little and trying to get one of the new controllers from RetroFighters? I was interested but postage was murder so figured I'd try and get them in a batch.

 

[Booshman]

What about waiting a little and trying to get one of the new controllers from RetroFighters? I was interested but postage was murder so figured I'd try and get them in a batch.

I'd have to get it imported, so the cost would be high. I can grab a Superpad easily enough for not a lot of money. It would also be a shame to hack up a nice new pad when I can repurpose an old one.

 

[Booshman]

I halved and extended a cartridge to make the rear of the case. I managed to get the screen, driver board, Everdrive, N64 and the batteries inside and still have it shut. Hopefully I can get the controller, power regulator, audio amp and wires in there too, there looks to be some empty spots. I've added a spot at the bottom for a HDMI port so I can connect a breakout box or docking stytem.

 

[Jack Sasquatch]

Huge fan of the extended cartridge...could function as a more elegant version of those boxes everyone builds to shroud the cart slot.

I also used a superpad, but the asymmetric-style one shown on the left above. Here's what the board looked like. Considering the backside is all through-hole, you could def trim smaller. It's a fairly easy board to work with.

 

[Booshman]

Huge fan of the extended cartridge...could function as a more elegant version of those boxes everyone builds to shroud the cart slot.

I also used a superpad, but the asymmetric-style one shown on the left above. Here's what the board looked like. Considering the backside is all through-hole, you could def trim smaller. It's a fairly easy board to work with.View attachment 5124 View attachment 5125

Glad you like what I did with the cartridge. I took the logo for the front of my case from it, so it was good to not have the rest of it go to waste.

Cheers for the pictures of the controller. I have one ordered, but I'll have to wait until the post starts up again until I see it. Nice avatar by the way.

 

[Jack Sasquatch]

You've certainly got an eye for aesthetics. I second the comments that that case front has the most attention to detail and impressive frankencasing I've seen. I'm 100% stealing a logo from a cartridge in the future.

Between our avatars, we've got plenty of disapproving stares looking down on the rest of the BB community. Keep fighting the good fight, brother.