The OTHER Old School Gaming, Part 2

 Back in 2022 I kitbashed an old TRS-80/Tandy Color Computer 2 into a modern PC using a RaspberryPI 4. I had so much fun doing it, I immediately began my ideas for another Kitbash, this time using a TRS-80 Model 4 and trying to build something that would have been like the proposed Tandy Color Computer 4. 

I didn't quite do that, but I used the knowledge from my first Kitbash to build something new. But first I needed to figure out what to do. Well, that's not true, I pretty much knew what I wanted, I just had to do it. First I needed the case. Thankfully eBay comes through.

I scored a TRS-80 Model III case. Just the case, nothing inside. I wanted a Model 4 since they were a little bigger and white. It seemed fitting that a Model 4 case would be the start of my Color Computer 4 project.  But Model 4s were rarer than Model IIIs, but I could fix that.

Case ready to go I needed remove some internal pieces to fit a new keyboard.

Thankfully, I had gotten a Dremel for Christmas. 

Now came the longer part, finding a monitor and keyboard that would fit. I found some custom scientific equipment monitors that were even in HD and had a touch screen, but in the end I found a cheap ass monitor on Amazon.

It didn't look bad, and even had built-in sound.

I played around with a few keyboards, including a cheap one my wife and I found at a second-hand store we were dropping off old toys at. 

Not really liking that one, and it later died on me anyway, I spent some money to get a really nice keyboard. Nicer than the project dictated, but I could also redo the keys to make it look like the old TRS-80 keyboard.

I knew heat was going to be an issue, so I installed some fans. 

They worked out better than expected really!

Now came the time to get everything together. I scored a 5" monitor from my brother and added that to one of the drive bays, my youngest even designed and 3D printed some adapters for it fit in better.

I picked up a power strip with USB ports to power everything inside (thankful for those fans) and started putting it all together.

Tested everything and spent a few hours planning where to put all these cables and unplugging and plugging back in so I was not creating a fire hazard.

Till today.

It looks nice next to my other Kitbash.

The top bay is still empty, but I have a 3D file to print that will turn it into a 3.5 drivebay. The 3D filament currently loaded is glow-in-the-dark, since I am just going to paint it black, it seems like a waste. 

Well.

That was a blast. Now to load some old DOS games on it. That's the external hard drive in the middle. I have another monitor, I should put it up and use it for my Atari 600 and 2600 emulators. 

What should I do next I wonder.

Friday Updates; Retro-Builds, DemonQuest and July is coming up.

Finding it hard to post on a Friday when it is so nice out!

So some updates.

We had some really hot days this week so I took advantage of it and went out to get my TRS-80 Model III case and give it a new paint job.  It now looks like a TRS-80 Model 4.

That is the first coat of primer. I primed it in flat white and used a glossy white top coat.  It's dry but I might put on another coat. 

For this "Retro-Build" I really wanted to use a Raspberry Pi 4 based system again, but I also have this motherboard just laying around. I have not idea if it will fit save for my quick and dirty measurements. I have a new hard drive for it and the keyboard.  I need to cut the bottom of the case to fit the keyboard in, but that is no big deal, and I already have my support.  Going with some industrial foam this time instead of 3D printing one.

If I stick with Windows on it versus the Pi I can run all the Gold Box D&D games on it.  Make this nothing but a D&D-related computer. Just like the 1980s. 

My DragonQuest post went over rather nicely. I am going to be checking out the fan revision of 2nd Edition, called Version 2.19 soon.   I am not entirely sure what, if anything, I will do with it but I do love the idea of mixing in bits of the SPI Demons game and calling it "DemonQuest" instead.  Maybe I take some notes from DragonRaid!  This is only a passing idea.  Maybe something I can pick at every now and then.  I do have some ideas though that I like.

July is coming up.  I was talking with my friend Greg this week and the topic of Superhero Games came up.  I might spend some time with some supers games and maybe even get to some Sci-Fi stuff I did not cover in May and some D&D stuff I now know I won't get to this month.  At the end of July (or rather the last ⅓)  I have something special planned that should be fun.  No details yet, but here is a spoiler.

Next week, either some Castles & Crusades or Pathfinder and how they relate to D&D!

This Old Computer

I interrupt this A to Z Blogging with my newest acquisition/restoration project.

Over the winter break, I worked on my new Color Computer upgrade to a full retro gaming machine.

Well, I am moving on to a larger project now.

It is the case for a TRS-80 Model III, the first computer I ever used.  

The cabling for the CoCo mod was tight, but this is so roomy on the inside.  Not to mention 2 full-height 5.25" drive bays.  I still have drive rails and even a hot-swap chassis for USB to IDE drives.  I even have DVD and Blu-Ray drives I could put into this.

Honestly, I am high with anticipation about what I could do with this.  The monitor is the limiting factor of course and I would need to design a bunch of new parts to 3D print, but those are just details, and minor ones at that.

Nothing it happening though for a bit.  That case needs some serious care.  When I UV bleached my other one it was recommended that I just paint it.  I might do that here. It is frankly a wreck, but not so much so that I can't make it work.

Now to decide...Windows, Linux or TRS-DOS?  Nah just kidding, this will be Windows I am sure. 

The OTHER Old School Gaming

I love my old school games. No shock, spend any time here at all and you can see that.  I enjoy a good retro-clone. Especially if someone puts a little spin on it as well.  Well, that feeling extends to my computer gaming as well.

Brief history and many of you have read this before. I bought my first computer, with my own saved up money, back in 1985.  It was a TRS-80 Color Computer 2 and I plugged it into a TV.  It had 16k of RAM, and ran at about 900 Kilohertz.  No disk drive. I had to save everything to cassette tapes.  It did have color though and that to me made it better than the TRS-80 Model IIIs we had at school.  In fact it was very much like this computer.

This particular computer was given to me by my brother.  He got it from my old High School DM.  We had the same computer, only his was 64k and had a floppy disk drive.  I would upgrade to the Tandy Color Computer 3 with 128k of memory, running at a whopping 2 Megahertz and a floppy drive.

The computer above though was in sad, sad shape.  In addition to a lot of yellowing it had, according to my brother who is an engineer, a broken pin on one of the epromms.  He tried fixing it, but it was DOA.

So I decided to build my own Tandy Color Computer Retro-clone!  But first I needed some supplies and that case needed work.  A lot of work.

Step 1.  Cleaning and Bleaching

The case was a mess and the insides were not much better.

With some of the grime gone I got out some plastic restore bleach and set it all up under some UV light.

Honestly, I kept it under the light for about a week.  But I can't argue with the results.

Part 2. Proof of Concept 

While that was taking a bath in bleach and getting some fake sunlight I worked on my proof of concept.  I had my youngest print out a mini Color Computer case for a Raspberry Pi B.  I also began ordering everything I would need.  Keyboard, USB cables, new case badges, HDMI cables, a USB 3 port, and of course a new Raspberry Pi 4.  

While waiting on everything to come in I played around with my proof of concept computer.

The CoCoPi emulator even allows me to switch out which classic CoCo processor I can use the MC 6309E or the MC 6809S (my preferred choice).

Got the keyboard and the USB 3 port so those also got tested with the Pi B.  I was able to get the USB 3 port fitted into the old CoCo cartridge slot.  So that was one thing out of the way.

I felt that bit came together rather well.  The next part was a little more involved.

Part 3. The Miracles of 3D Printing

I needed to replace all the joystick, cassette, and serial ports with the 21st-century equivalent, USB. My plan was to route high power draw USB 3 to the side port and keep the back for USB 2.  I also needed to replace the TV Out with HDMI.  Unlike the Pi B, the Pi 4 has two HDMI ports, so I needed to work that out.

The keyboard is a great size, just a touch too small, and no way to get it into the case and have it stay in place.  Plus I am hard on keyboards, so I needed to make sure it was sturdy.  So the first task, 3D print a keyboard tray.  This is FDM print. Our resin printer is acting up and the bed for it is way too small for this size print.

Not bad.  Now to print the ports.

In addition to printing the ports that go in the back of the computer I got some new male-to-female cables for USB (with splitters), and micro HDMI.  Since they were going to plugged in and out a lot I needed to be sure they were secure.  So I also broke out the resin.  Before fitting the new ports to the computer, I fit the new cables to the ports.

USB went in like a charm.  Next the HDMI ports and power cable.  Sadly though, I had to cut the case of the full-sized HDMI.

Though all took a bit to dry and cure.  I was getting close now!

Part 4. Putting it all Together

I knew the hardest part was going to be getting all the cables in.  It was easier than expected except the HDMI kept coming undone.  Still not 100% happy with it.  I had to abandon my plan to also have an ethernet port. It doesn't need it since it has built-in WiFi, but it would have been nice.

Cables stuffed into the case, case screwed back up, time to boot up!

The keyboard lights up (it is a Color Computer after all!) and the DOS box and CoCo emulators work! With that time to put on the new case badge.

Grab some more emulators from my Pi B and fire up my new retro gaming machine!

The computer is running Raspbian which is a stripped-down version of Linux Debian for the Raspberry Pi.  I prefer Ubuntu for my Linux, but this is working out fine. 

To match the spirit of the CoCo my side USB 3 port also has an SD Card reader.  So I rummaged through the house to collect all the old SD cards we have laying around.

I'll load some programs on these and I'll be able to load software on the side of my CoCo just like the old days!

I spent a long time on this, and maybe way too much money. BUT now I want to do another one! I mean, I already have two, the proof of concept model with the Pi B and the full case with the Pi 4.  There is a micro Windows computer out there that would fit into this case and there is another keyboard that also glows red, green, and blue (proper CoCo Colors) but it is white instead.  Maybe I should wait though.   I have always wanted to gut out a TRS-80 Model 4 and make that into my own version of the proposed, but never produced, Color Computer 4.

In the language of the OSR movement, this is retro-clone.  It uses new mechanics/hardware to simulate/emulate an older experience.  I am not running OS-9 (the OS for the Color Computer) and I am not sure I want to at this point.  While the CoCo is my love, I also enjoy the ability to run an Atari 2600 emulator on it and DOS Box.  So I guess my next step is to grab the Gold Box AD&D PC games and play them on this.

One last look at the before and after.

And After

I am very, very pleased with how it turned out.

Now to start trolling some auction sites for a TRS-80 Model 4 and figuring out what keyboard and monitor I can fit into that case.  I already have some old external drives I could fit into it.