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No pics this time, but I think I should post about this again, so you know it's still on its way:

All the small cosmetic parts that help define the look and feel of a NES controller are now cut out and beveled.
We used a 4mm MDF.

Pieces:
- Border around the whole controller
- Border around the D-Pad
- 2 squares-with-a-hole-in-the-middle for the A and B buttons
- Border for the Start and Select buttons

The D-Pad was seriously a pain, because it's so thin and has so many sides and corners, inside and outside.

Currently we're trying to get the space between the buttons and their holes done, so they don't get stuck when pressed. When this is finished, I guess we're up for the button constructions, and then painting, and finally gluing everything together.

Next time comes with pics again!

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Believe it or not, I have not grown up with a NES. I'm just that age where the NES was still around, but my first console was a SNES.
Therefore, my NES library is not really that huge, and lacks a lot of classics which have become rare over the years.

Two of these classics have now found the way on my shelf:
Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3, both boxed and in mint condition. SMB2 is unfortunately without a manual, but I still think it was well worth it.

This means my Super Mario Bros. trilogy is now complete. SMB1 I even have twice :P

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Since I'm no longer admin at a certain forum, I have found more time to work on why I have joined said forum in the first place: fangames!

I remembered a game that was lying around on my hard drive for quite some time, there even exists a YouTube video of it in an early stage.
If anyone can guess what game that is, you win a cookie.

Anyway, said YouTube video is this:

...for those who haven't seen it yet.

Progress is coming along nicely at this point.
And guess what?

Yes really, this screen-shot shows (almost) WORKING online co-op play. (Ok they're both running on the same PC, but still. It has been tested with selected testers, and it works even all the way to India.)
So yeah, the game, tentatively titled "Legendary Mario Bros." (which is subject to change, because it sounds a bit weird IMO) will hopefully show more of itself at this year's NCFC, alongside my other big fangaming project, which is the MFGG Community Project "Midas Machine".

Last edited: July 30 2010, 14:54:41 by Guinea

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Sorry that it took me so long to update, but things kept me away from my log and we didn't make as much progress in the last week as expected.

But here, have some pictures:

This is the 18mm MDF that we got for the top of the NES table.
What we're going to do is to recreate the whole controller in 9:1 scale, including the controller's height. That whole thing will then serve as the lid for whatever comes below, e.g. a storage box. This way we also prevent the screws damaging the contents, like it was the problem in Kyle's version.

The lines here are mirrored, because they're drawn on the underside.

For some reason I couldn't really take many photos during the following process, but after cutting out the 4mm border and buttons and D-Pad (and believe me, the D-Pad was a pain to cut), we have now this:

Looks really cool, don't you think?

And here's another one of the controller lying on it, so you get the size difference:

Oh and, the prototype button that I have mentioned in an earlier post has been built and it works like a charm. Playing Castlevania with a single button (and that's the whip) is not as funny as it sounds though.
I can tell you that much: It is constructed totally differently than Kyle's buttons, without screws or springs.

When the real buttons are made, you'll see how we did them.

Progress from now will probably be a bit slower, because I'm quite busy with other things :/

I'll keep you updated with new info whenever there is one, and some unrelated posts in between. Keep coming.

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My old mouse's mouse wheel has been broken some weeks ago, and I figured it's time for a new mouse.
It took me this long to get a new one only because I had a spare trackball mouse which worked as a substitute, and I wanted to get a more expensive quality gaming mouse this time, so I took the time to check out different mouses and finally found the one that I hope I'll be happy with.

But it wasn't THAT easy.
At first, I wanted to get the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, 40€. In the shop I found however a different mouse which fit my hand better and seemed overall better, but for the incredible price of 25€ only!
After thoroughly examining this mouse, which was a Hama Penalizer Pro II, I figured I'd take that and save 15€.

Oh well, when I got home and plugged that thing in, I was shocked:
The Penalizer's Lift-Off distance is like, 1cm!
Who on earth would ever lift a mouse THAT high in order to reposition it? So you can imagine that the mouse pointer was out of control and it all felt really awkward.
First thing I did today was to take the mouse back to the store and replace it.
Especially for gamers, that's madness (and it's advertised as a gaming mouse, even!)

But I didn't take the IntelliMouse.

The one I finally picked is the Logitech G500.
And that mouse seems to be the right one for me. Has 3 levels of precision, 3 thumb buttons that are easily accessible and responsible, and feels good on the hand.
It's my first gaming mouse, so I guess it's normal that I first have to get used to the unusual shape that these mice typically have, and of course to the buttons that have never been there before.

Well that said:
If you need a new gaming mouse at a reasonable price, I can at least tell you to NOT take the Penalizer Pro II. It's AWESOME in the hand, but the overlong lift-off distance destroys it completely.
Might still be good if you have a 9mm glass between the mouse and the table, so yea, if you have that, then take the Penalizer :)

I haven't really seen the IntelliMouse 3.0 in action, but from the feels, it is probably good if you are one of those who like it and not one of those who hate it, since the buttons could be made better than they are...

Oh and the software that comes with it is incredibly cool.
Let's you store profiles on the mouse so you can take it anywhere, even if the other computer doesn't have the same driver :)

Now, off to some TF2 to test it ^-^

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