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Author Topic: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop  (Read 6228 times)

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meyer980

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Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« on: January 19, 2019, 07:47:02 pm »
After finishing a previous small build, I had so much fun I decided to continue! I'm actually knee deep in two projects. (watch for a post on the other soon)

Wanting to learn more about 3d modeling, I took on a project to create something completely from scratch. Who’s familiar with the Nintendo Game and Watch Tabletop games? The most famous is definitely Donkey Kong Jr. by Coleco.



Nintendo made a bunch of others, though. Snoopy and Popeye are pretty neat. They’re all LCD games, but these tabletop games needed ambient light – otherwise you couldn’t see anything! No backlight built in.

First thing I had to do was get one. I scoured ebay for a long time, these things can be expensive! Eventually a bought a pretty good one though for a very reasonable price. My model is Mario’s Cement Factory.




I needed a real version so that I could 3d model it. I started by taking a profile shot, drawing that outline, and then extruding out the basic shape. Then, came hours and hours of shaping. I had never really used a professional 3d modeling program before (just Tinkercad) so it took a long time to learn. I also needed it to be easy to take apart and assemble, not one solid item. It will be a total of 5 pieces.






You can see in some shots how I built in a screen holder. I’m planning to use a 5″ lcd. It will also all hold together with small 3d printed pins.

Next Steps
First, I'll do some test prints to make sure my pieces all fit as planned. Then comes the game-playing bits.

Even though I’ve gone full-pc for a previous miniature build, this time I’ll probably go with a Raspberry Pi. I just want this to be MAME compatible, so Windows isn’t necessary. I also have to decide on a theme. I’ve actually decided that already but saving that for a surprise! The project probably won't finish until Spring, Winter in Minnesota makes it very hard to paint, so updates might be sporadic. More photos and small updates will be on my blog: http://sergiostuff.com/category/gw-tabletop-arcade/

Alejo I

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2019, 03:35:19 am »
That looks *insanely* cool. Such a classy little machine to recreate.

meyer980

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2019, 07:09:24 pm »
I got my 3D prints today and they really turned out quite nice! Very close to the real model, which means I must’ve done something right. I just need to make a few modifications.

The pins I’m using to hold the thing together are a little small. They work, but it’s quite difficult to handle them and I’m afraid they could pop out at any point. So, I’ll make those a little bit longer. I’m also going to add a couple more pins to prevent flexing near the back corners.

Additionally, the piece holding the screen is a little too snug – so snug it almost bends my screen. Some modifications with my dremel fixed this but I’m still going to make an update to my files.

Compare my 3D printed Game and Watch Tabletop to an original below (with screen inserted, too).






Ignore the gaps, I didn't have the pins all inserted at this point. It's actually almost flush.

jdbailey1206

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2019, 08:29:08 am »
This is great meyer.  About 4 years ago I was trying to figure out how to make a multi game Game and Watch emulator contained in the DKII unit I still have.  I only thought they came in the actual hand held versions.  I never knew the table tops existed.  I will definitley be watching this and may make one once you have done all the heavy lifting.   :D

meyer980

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2019, 02:07:26 pm »
Yep, I plan on sharing the files once it's all finished. The Tabletop games actually had slightly better "graphics"

Your idea would be awesome though. And I bet it'd be possible for someone skilled enough. Maybe use a raspberry pi zero, which is much smaller, and some good soldering.

meyer980

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2019, 11:53:38 am »
For my Game and Watch Tabletop build, I’m using a Raspberry Pi, running Retropie, like all the cool kids. It works slick but there are a few issues. The older versions of MAME that that pi uses can’t play newer ROMs that have been recently added. That means all the cool handheld games recently added in the past year or two are out. Real bummer!

But, I can use Madrigal’s Simulators which do have most of the G&W Tabletop games. That’s important! MAME doesn’t yet have Coleco’s DK Jr., or Snoopy or Popeye for instance, which are all tabletop games. Those are the most important games I want to work since that’s what my cabinet will look like.

Additionally, a pi is super cheap, has plenty of support, and is so small it fits super well.

Control Interface
I was a little worried about how to get controls connected though. I prefer my controls to replicate a keyboard, I think that works best with MAME. The raspberry pi works great with USB joysticks or wireless gamepads (which are also good for libretro, the frontend/emulator interface) but they all act as gamepads – not keyboards. I could use something like a minipac, as I’ve done in other builds, but honestly that’s a little overkill for this.

That’s when I stumbled upon the arcade bonnet by Adafruit. Why do I love this thing? Let me explain. It connects directly to the pi, emulates a keyboard, has 6 inputs with easy JST connectors, an 8-joystick connection, analog joystick connection, AND has a built in mono audio amp. That really cinched the deal. Not only will it make connecting controls easy, but I won’t have to buy a separate amp – saving me both a USB connection (or the audio plug) and power.

You do have to solder the thing together a bit, but that was no problem. I also took the time to solder some of the small buttons to the JST quick connect wires. These tiny little buttons will go where the small alarm and other buttons on the tabletops were. They won’t be used in gameplay, but will have admin functions.

meyer980

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2019, 11:58:13 am »
This is complete, and turned out pretty fancy looking. Again, SlammedNiss did the printing for me on this custom made artwork. He does quality work. Full build with more photos on my website: http://sergiostuff.com/2019/04/07/finishing-coleco-skyskipper/





javeryh

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2019, 02:24:06 pm »
That is really awesome.  Nice job!  Does it boot straight to Sky Skipper?  Also, I like your RetroPie theme - very clean and simple.  What is the name of it?

meyer980

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2019, 03:03:32 pm »
That is really awesome.  Nice job!  Does it boot straight to Sky Skipper?  Also, I like your RetroPie theme - very clean and simple.  What is the name of it?

Thanks! I can't get it to boot straight to a game in Retropie, I'm not seeing any settings for that. Do you know how? The theme is called tft, and it's available to download/select straight from Emulation Station. I like that's it's simple and clean too. https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/themes

leapinlew

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Re: Recreating the Game and Watch Tabletop
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2019, 07:31:13 pm »
Good job! Fantastic build.

It's amazing what is possible nowadays.