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Okay, so by “controller” I just mean a specialized mechanical keyboard. Endless Sky is a spiritual successor to the Escape Velocity games. EDIT: I also realized this pic is from before I wired it up, but the only differences are four screws in the corners and the Micro USB cord from my long-gone Nexus 10 tablet semi-permanently coming out the back.
- Gateron Black for most of the keyboard switches
- Also got momentary toggle switches and a light duty aluminum push button, because Millennium Falcon and Top Gun.
- “DSA” and “F10” profile keycaps
- laser cut (painted Masonite) and 3D printed (PLA)enclosure
- Layout built around the in-cockpit control mapping
- Hand-wired (aka “Dead Bug”) keyboard matrix
- QMK/VIAL programmable firmware on my last Promicro with a Micro-USB cable.
- Dymo-style embossing tape labels!!!
Where can I start reading more on how to do this? I would love to make one for myself
This is probably the densest one-stop shop for handwiring resources. It has links to some of the other tools I used, and QMK is the open source firmware that runs many of them (I used a fork that enables a better graphical key mapper), though there are others that can be easier to set up.
On Youtube, there's a kid who has made a cottage industry out of these. Search for Joe Scotto.
In general, searching for "hand wired keyboard" will bring up a lot of resources. Then, if you're so inclined, learn how to do a basic PCB in KiCAD and you start closing in on a device that works every bit as well as a commercial product.