We aren’t sure what [Lazy_Duck] is doing with video games, but it must require a lot of controllers. Dismayed at the cost and complexity of commercial gamepads, they started soldering and 3D printing to get a cheaper basic controller.
The emphasis is on throwing things together, so there’s no dedicated PCB. Just a protoboard with an RP2040-Zero, a joystick, a few buttons, and a microswitch. A 3D-printed case rounds out the project.
[Elite Worm] wrote in to tell us about a cool little keyboard designed to make playing a certain game a whole lot easier. One of the ways you can move your character is with the numpad in directional mode plus Control and Shift, but those are too far apart to drive blindly with one hand. This is all the motivation [Elite Worm] needed to build a custom keyboard with only the essentials.
The keyboard is controlled by an Arduino Pro Micro, which is fairly standard for this type of build — it’s usually that or a Teensy. [Elite Worm] used Cherry MX browns for a nice tactile feel, and added LEDs for a purple-white under-glow. We love the way the printed keycaps turned out, and are impressed because tolerances are notoriously tight for those fruity switch stems.
Starting to think of a few uses for a small custom keypad? This thing is wide open, and [Elite Worm] will even send you the PCB files if you ask nicely. See if you can get past the break without your mouse, and check out the build video while you wait.
Want more flexibility? Just use more switches! Continue reading “Custom Tibia Keyboard For A Leg Up In The Game”
